


From Atlantic To Pacific

by DreamingMedium



Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Banter, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Paranormal, Relationship(s), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:53:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27157559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingMedium/pseuds/DreamingMedium
Summary: A new detective joins the Santa Barbara Police Department and is assigned as the Head Detective's temporary partner. Just as she joins, a new serial killer makes themselves known. Can the pair solve this new case before its too late?
Relationships: Carlton Lassiter/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	1. Welcome To Santa Barbara

**Author's Note:**

> Already writing chapter two as we speak :)  
> Disclaimer: I obviously own nothing. The only thing I do own is a deep love for a certain blue eyed detective.

People have always flocked to Diana Brooks, that’s something she noticed as she got older. It wasn’t until her first job as a cashier when she was a teenager that she realized that people would just spill their emotions and inner thoughts to her; even though she was a complete stranger. Just by asking “how are you today?”, it would trigger so many emotional conversations between people she may never see again. It was also more than that though, it was strangers walking up to her to ask for directions, people spilling secrets to her as she poured creamer into her coffee at the shop. No matter what, people were attracted to her.

Maybe it was her face, perhaps she just had one of those faces you could trust. She knew she stuck out. Growing up, she has always been the tallest in the room. Just shy of six feet. Diana knew who she was because of her height. It helped create this air of authority around her. If she rolled her shoulders back and kept her chin up, she felt like she could rule the world. 

Maybe that’s why she decided to become a cop.

Diana enrolled in the police academy and graduated with high honors. She wishes she could say that she was at the top of her class, but alas, she was not. After the academy, instead of immediately joining the force, Diana hit the books and got her Bachelors and Masters in Criminology. So, when she handed in her resume to the head of the Santa Barbara Police Department, Karen Vick, she was hired, well, not without some conversation first.

“So, Ms. Brooks, you just moved here from New Jersey?” Vick asked, clasping her hands together and leaning her elbows on her desk. It felt like Vick could read her mind with those eyes. She has to be an intimidating woman in order to be the Chief of the Santa Barbara Police Department. 

“Yes, ma’am. I moved from one beach to another. I don’t think I could live without the ocean,” Diana responded with a smile. This was quite literally her first job interview. ‘Nervous’ could not even begin to describe how she was feeling. She discreetly wiped her sweaty palms on her grey pencil skirt. She’s had plenty of interviews in her life, but none as serious as this one. Diana is usually able to charm herself through a conversation, though. This couldn’t be that hard, right?

Vick nodded her head, listening to Diana talk. She looked up from her desk and stared at Diana for a second. When Diana noticed how long she was staring, Vick laughed to herself a little. “Sorry, it’s just been a stressful week so far. My daughter is sick and my husband hasn’t been able to get off work to look after her. I had to convince my mother to stay at the house with her while we both weren’t home.” Diana let out an ‘oof’ noise to sympathize with the chief.

“I can’t imagine how stressful that is. I can barely look after myself, let alone a child,” she chuckled, trying to ease Vick’s stress for even a small moment.

Vick opened her mouth to say something, then promptly closed it again, looking back down at Diana’s resume. She had just shared a part of her personal life with her, this random girl that walked into her office for an interview. Feeling unprofessional, Vick looked back down at Diana’s resume.

It wasn’t strange for that to happen to Diana. It happened to her all the time. People just opened up to her for no reason at all. She never stopped them, though. You never know when you’re the only person someone talks to that day. These encounters ranged from little things, like Vick’s child falling ill, to sometimes things more serious. 

Diana watched Vick look up from her resume, “I won’t lie to you Ms. Brooks, you’ve come at a perfect time. Cases are starting to stack up around here. But, we need to follow proper police procedure and have you start out by partnering with a senior officer to ease you out of academy and college life. How soon can you start?”

She couldn’t believe it! Hired just like that. No “we’ll contact you” and waiting days for a phone call. She was hired! Diana couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. Her dad had prepared her for rejection. But this? This is better than she could have imagined. 

“Right away, chief!” She couldn’t contain her enthusiasm. 

Vick stood from her desk and stretched out her hand. Diana stood up from the seat quickly and grabbed it, shaking her hand firmly. 

“Welcome aboard,” Vick paused and gave her a smile, “Detective Brooks”. Diana’s smile was so wide at this point her cheeks started to ache. Vick let go of her hand and walked around the desk and towards the door of her office. Opening the door, she looked around the bullpen, as if looking for a specific person. Diana turned from her standing position in front of the desk, watching her gaze.

“McNab,” Vick called out. Diana watched as the tallest man in the station quickly walked up to the door. Diana was tall, she was never intimidated by other tall men or women. But my god, this guy was massive.

“Yes, ma’am” he said quickly. 

“Where is Detective Lassiter?” Vick asked while putting her hands on her hips. Diana found herself fiddling with the ends of her blonde hair. Detective Lassiter? As in _Head_ Detective Lassiter? Vick said senior officer, but this was as high as it gets. 

“Out on a case, ma’am. There had been a call reported in about a body found,” McNab said quickly. Diana understood now. This man has the same energy as a Great Dane that wanted nothing more than to be a lap dog. She could even see it in his eyes. They looked innocent. 

Chief Vick turned around to look at Diana. “Looks like you’ll meet him there.” Vick then turned back around to Buzz. “Please take Detective Brooks to the crime scene. Lassiter has a new partner while O’Hara is undercover. There seems to be no end in sight with that case.” McNab nodded eagerly and looked over at Diana. She waved and gave him a smile as she walked over to where they stood in the doorway. “Good luck, Brooks.”

Diana nodded and started following McNab who was walking towards the door. It wasn’t until she heard Chief Vick laugh that she registered the tone of her voice when she wished her luck. Why did she say it like she was going to need it? Diana shook the thought out of her head as she tried to catch up with Buzz’s long gait.

The brunette looked down at her with that puppy dog smile, “Nice to meet you Detective Brooks, I’m Buzz McNab.” He reached out his hand and she shook it while they walked towards the front door. This man was the definition of doe eyed. He had a charming smile and his eyes lit up as well. 

“Diana Brooks. You can just call me Diana, no need for the formalities.” She smiled at him. He returned the smile and they exited the bustling station. 

As they were walking down the steps of the station, Diana watched as a middle-aged man was walking in. When he saw McNab, he gave a small wave and continued walking. Diana half-expected the man to stop and introduce himself, but his stride didn’t even falter for a second. 

Diana glanced over her shoulder and watched him continue into the station. “That’s Henry Spencer,” McNab said, following her gaze. “He’s in charge of hiring consultants for the department. He comes off cold, but trust me, he’s really a nice guy.” Diana nodded and they walked over to McNab’s patrol car.

Entering this new job felt like she was going back into high school. New groups, new people. Who is nice? Who is the hard ass? Diana felt her palms getting sweaty again so she wiped her palms onto her skirt once again. Taking a deep breath, she cleared her head. Diana was not about to let her confidence be crushed by doubts. She can do this. 

Sliding into the passenger seat, she started to think about what her partner is like. Especially if Vick had to wish her good luck. Diana has dealt with so many different people in her life, she can’t imagine she won’t be able to charm her way through this one. Looking over at Buzz, she decided to ask about her new partner.

“What’s Detective Lassiter like?” Diana asked as Buzz put the car into drive. He hesitated for a moment, almost like he was carefully planning the words he was about to say.

“Well,” he started, “I think he’s just one of those people you need to meet,” What kind of man waited at that crime scene for her. What does that mean, she just had to meet him? “All I can say is you do not want to get on his bad side,” Sighing, Diana glanced out the window, taking in the scenery of Santa Barbara.

She grew up on a beach, and yet, Santa Barbara was so different from the Jersey Shore she knew. The Pacific and the Atlantic, two vastly different worlds. It felt like there was a palm tree no matter what direction she turned her head. Her heart ached when she thought of home. The entirety of her family was on the other side of the country, what was she thinking? Images of Christmases and birthdays flashed through her head. Shaking them out of her head, Diana fixed her eyes out of the front windshield. She needed to focus on the crime scene they were driving to, not memories of home. The last thing she needed was to start feeling homesick. 

* * *

Within minutes, the car was driving through a trail in the woods. Wasn’t she just looking at palm trees? Where did this forest come from? In the distance, Diana could see the flashing lights of the different police cars. There was crime scene tape everywhere. Some random hikers standing and watching the numerous officers and forensic technicians walking around the scene, doing their job.

Diana stepped outside the car, noticing the slight chill in the air, which was unusual for Santa Barbara. She looked over at McNab, who offered a sympathetic smile before they walked closer to the scene. Taking a deep breath, Diana straightened her grey blazer and fixed some blonde fly-aways before following behind McNab.

Just as the pair crossed underneath the yellow tape, Diana was startled by the loud, gruff voice that bellowed from across the scene.

“McNab! Under no circumstances are you to bring a civilian onto my crime scene!” Following the voice, Diana saw a tall, lanky man. He was standing there with his hands on his hips, displaying his police badge attached to his belt. Taking in his appearance, she saw his thin lips forming a frown and his eyebrows furrowed above a pair of dark sunglasses. His dark brown hair had a few greys growing in there, creating a salt and pepper look. He was handsome, she could absolutely admit that. 

“She’s not a civilian, sir!” McNab yelled back. There was a tinge of nervousness in his voice. McNab was practically twice the size of this man! Why does he sound so afraid of him?

The pieces started clicking together, this man must be Head Detective Carlton Lassiter. She should've known from the confidence this man was oozing. HIs jaw was set and his lips formed a thin, angry line. 

The angry detective quickly marched over to where they were standing, glaring at McNab, “Who is she then?” 

“My name is Diana Brooks, I’m your new temporary partner,” Diana answered, holding her hand out to shake it. Lassiter just looked over at her, glancing up and down, clearly scanning her. Her shoulders rolled back, straightening her back. The nerves were getting to her, but she couldn’t let him see that. 

The smile that cracked across his face just screamed arrogance. She could feel anger pooling at the bottom of her stomach. This man was only about three inches taller than her, she was looking at him through those sunglasses, not faltering for a second. 

“You’re kidding right?” There’s that twinge of annoyance again. Diana laughed, taking a step towards him, still holding out her hand for a shake.

“No, I’m not, Detective. I’ve been assigned as your partner until your old partner comes back from her undercover assignment,” Diana snipped with a smile. If he wanted to be an arrogant asshole, she could return the favor. 

Lassiter removed his sunglasses and glared at her with bright blue eyes. Tucking his sunglasses into his blazer pocket, then crossing his arms over his chest. That stupid smirk still on his face. She finally lowered the hand, he wasn't going to shake it. 

“Look, whatever academy you just came from, I’m sure they didn’t prepare you for the real police work. So-” Diana cut him off.

“I actually just ‘rolled' out of The University of Maryland with my masters degree in Criminology, Detective. So, I am more than qualified to be your temporary partner. So, if you don’t mind, I would like to do the job I was hired for.” The words rolled off her tongue faster than she could’ve imagined. Never did she think that she would have a ‘my dick is bigger than yours’ contest on her first scene, more so, her first day. 

Lassiter’s mouth shut and she watched his jaw clench. Neither of them wanted to be the first to break eye contact. He finally turned around and walked towards the scene of the crime, Diana on his heels.

“You can take notes, Brooks” Lassiter snipped while they headed towards the main hustle and bustle of the crime scene. 

“Understood, Detective”


	2. Into The Woods

The air had an unnatural chill that hung around the detectives. The scene of the crime was deep in the woods, but with the temperature, Diana would swear they were standing in a freezer. She swore that if she squinted, she could see her breath hang in the air. Diana also couldn't shake this feeling of being watched. It felt like eyes were burning the back of her head. She decided it was just her being paranoid. 

Looking over at the head detective next to her, she watched his eyes analyze the body that lay on the ground. The victim was a young female, possibly in her late teens or early twenties. Gruesomely, her face was almost frozen in a look of terror. The young girl’s brown eyes were wide open and glazed over, her mouth hanging open in a perpetual scream. The victim’s curly brown hair was splayed all over the ground. By looking around, Diana could see that there were also a few clumps that seemed to be ripped out of her head, showing signs of a struggle. 

Diana’s eyes shifted to the cause of death, deep gashes all over her abdomen and legs. It looked as if Jack The Ripper had gotten to this young girl. What was she doing this deep in the woods anyway? Was it possible that this wasn't the place where her murder occurred? 

“Do we have an ID on the victim?” Lassiter said, breaking the silence between them. Diana looked over to a uniform that was standing nearby. The officer lifted what looked like a torn up leather wallet from the ground and pulled out a driver’s license. 

“Madison Harris. Aged 21,” the officer said, putting the license back into the wallet and handing it over to Lassiter. He promptly took the license back out and compared the picture with the body in front of them. The way he was moving just showed how long he has been doing this. It looked like Lassiter was just following a routine. Diana didn't know if that was a bad thing or not. 

Diana’s eyes moved from Lassiter and started looking over the wounds on the young girl’s body. They were clean, no jagged edges. She squatted down next to the body to get a deeper look at the wounds. It almost looked like these cuts were made with a scalpel, that’s how clean they were. But what scalpel can make gashes this big? Is there some other sort of medical instrument that could cause damage like this? 

Just as Diana’s eyes were scanning the cuts on the victim’s legs, she heard a voice call from behind her, “Lassie! I almost couldn’t find you this deep into the woods!” Diana could practically feel the energy around the head detective shift. When she looked back up at him, his jaw was clenched so hard that she thought his teeth would break. This other voice had to be bad news for Lassiter.

Following the sound of the voice, Diana saw a pair of men walking over. Both about the same age, the man with cropped brown hair seemed to be the source of the original comment. The other man seemed to be following the other against his will, nervousness and anxiety coming off him in waves. 

“Spencer, what have I said about invading my crime scenes?” Lassiter said through clenched teeth. He handed the wallet back to the other uniform and then focused his attention back on the man in front of him. 

“You say to always come and one up you, and that without our help, you would never be able to solve any of the cases that come across your desk.” Oh, he was a smartass. Diana stood back up and crossed her arms as she watched this man get under Lassiter’s skin with so much ease, it seems like he does this a lot. 

“That is absolutely not what I say,” Lassiter quipped back. The man he called Spencer just laughed and looked over at the body, then met Diana’s gaze. He cracked a smile and took a step towards her. She took a good look at him. He was dressed like this was just a casual day at home for him. Diana also couldn't help but notice the half-eaten Snickers bar that was sticking out of his pocket. 

“Lassie! Why didn’t you introduce me to your new girlfriend?” Diana heard Lassiter sigh grumble under his breath.

“Spencer, she is not my girlfriend. This is-” Diana cut him off once again.

“Detective Diana Brooks. I was just hired today, nice to meet you,” she smiled and extended her hand, which he took quickly, shaking it. “I’m Detective Lassiter’s temporary partner while Detective O’Hara is undercover.” she added.

“Diana! It is a pleasure to meet you! I am Shawn Spencer, head psychic for the Santa Barbara Police Department. This is my associate, Harrison Ford,” Shawn replied, motioning over to the other man, who was much more put together than Shawn was. Yet, he also had a Snickers bar in his hand. The other man quickly made an angry noise.

“That is not my name, Shawn. Burton Guster, but you can call me Gus,” he said while handing his hand out, which Diana shook happily. 

“It’s very nice to meet you both, but I’m sorry, did you say psychic?” Diana asked. A psychic? The entire time she studied for her degrees, she had never heard of departments hiring psychics. There were always the occasional odd consultant, but this has to be a first. 

Lassiter made yet another angry noise from behind her, he walked over and stood directly next to her. 

“Mr. Spencer is occasionally hired on cases. God knows why.” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you don’t mind, Spencer. I have a crime scene to wrap up,” Wrap up? She had just gotten there. There was no way he could make a conclusion off of what was in front of them. Diana had heard that he was an amazing detective, but there was just no possible way!

“I understand, Lassie, what do you think I’m doing here?” Shawn said, putting his one hand up to his temple in the most ridiculous fashion. Diana just watched as he started to throw his body around. It was by far the most dramatic thing she has ever seen. And she did college theatre. Was he doing this on purpose? This had to be fake. Diana heard Lassiter let out a deep sigh and she watched as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Spencer, will you stop this nonsense?” Lassiter barked out at him. Shawn continued to throw his body around the crime scene, acting as if he was being torn apart by something. “Spencer! Enough already! We already know this was an animal attack?” Diana’s head whipped around to look at the detective. Animal attack? 

“There’s no way this was an animal attack!” Both Diana and Shawn said in sync. Diana watched as Lassiter met her eyes in the most ‘you have to be kidding me’ way. She shook her head and pointed down at the body.

“Did you even see how clean those slashes were? There’s no way this was an animal attack! That can only be done by an instrument of some sort. An extremely sharp axe or some other type of blade. There were no jagged edges on the wounds and there's also no dirt inside of them. What makes you think this could possibly be an animal attack?” Diana pointed to various points on the body to prove her point. Lassiter looked into her eyes angrily. 

“Look where we are, Brooks. You’re in the forest of Santa Barbara, not the streets of Chicago or Queens. Animal attacks happen all the time. You see the clumps of hair around the vic’s body? That’s common for animal attacks. The animal attacked and dragged her body here by the hair, ripping it out in the process.” Lassiter said, pointing at the ground. Diana shook her head and was cut interrupted before she could retort.

“No, no, Wonder Woman over here is correct.” Shawn said, his eyes closed with his fingers to his temples, “I can see a sword, a dagger, of some kind, a long one, more than one!” Diana just stared at him. This couldn’t be real. The only backup she had was a psychic. Well, she’ll take whatever she could get. If he’s worked several cases in the past, he’s had to have some kind of record. 

“What do you mean ‘more than one’?” Lassiter barked at Shawn.

Shawn held his one hand up and started wiggling his fingers, then slicing the air with his hand. He looked utterly ridiculous. But, maybe she should take a leap of faith here. After all, it was technically her first real case. She interned and shadowed on several cases while getting her masters, but she was always in the background for those. Right now, she was up at the front line of this.

“Okay,” she muttered, “you think we’re looking for Freddy Krueger,” Diana quipped at Shawn. He had to try and meet her halfway, here. 

“I wouldn’t be too quick to dismiss that,” Gus said from her left. She looked over at him and noticed how he was doing everything in his power to not look at the victim’s body on the ground. Oh, he was squeamish. What the hell was he doing in this business?

Diana shook her head and walked around to the other side of the body, she stood in front of a tree, looking down at the ground. There has to be something she’s missing. Her eyes scanned over every inch of the victim's body. Deep wounds, so clean. Diana looked at how the head was positioned, her eyes following the line of sight where the girl last looked. 

Staring into the woods, Diana could've sworn she saw something move. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt her legs go cold. Diana took a deep breath, there was no way there was just some strangers running around in the woods. She probably saw the shadow of a bird or some other forest creature. She shifted her gaze back down to the body. 

“Enough of this, Spencer. It was an animal attack and that’s the last I’m hearing of this,” Lassiter said while marching towards Shawn, who was throwing his body around in a dramatic fashion. It almost looked like when a mother has to wrangle a child. 

Diana stared at the body, she didn’t want to overlook any detail. Just as she cocked her head to the side in thought, she heard a loud whizzing noise, felt a slice on her left cheek, and heard a solid ‘THUNK’ into the tree behind her.

Whipping her head around she saw a crossbow bolt sticking out of the tree, splinters shooting out of the bark. There's no way this is happening!

“GET DOWN!” Diana screamed while pulling out the gun she had in the holder underneath her arm. The gun was a comforting weight in her palm as she aimed it towards where the bolt came from. Her eyes scanning over the trees in a panic. What shot at her? _Who_ shot at her? Why did they shoot at her? 

The crime scene became a flurry of commotion as every unarmed officer scrambled towards cover. Other officers ran to help the several bystanders that were watching the scene. There were several other whizzing noises heard as more crossbow bolts flew through the air. There was more than one shooter, there had to be. Why crossbows? What kind of people were they dealing with? The bullets were leaving her gun so quickly, all she could do was pray that she was actually hitting something and she wasn't just shooting into air. 

Diana watched Lassiter launch Shawn behind a police car and then took cover, aiming his gun over the hood of the car towards the strange shooters. His shoulders were squared off as he shot forward. He didn't even hesitate for a single second. Just ripped the gun out of his holster and took position. 

There were several shadows moving throughout the thick woods, Diana took every shot she thought she had. Gunshots ringing in the air louder than the sound of the crossbow bolts. The sound of a high pitched scream also pierced her ears. Diana’s head whipped around, expecting to see a woman in danger, instead she saw Gus ducking behind a police car, screaming bloody murder. Diana sprinted over to the car he was behind, taking the same position as Lassiter, shooting over the hood of the car. Gus looked over at her, his hands covering his ears. 

This wasn’t going to work, she needed to get closer to the shooters. She was just wasting bullets at this point. Diana looked and saw there was another police car about 30 feet ahead of her. She _needed_ to get closer. Taking a deep breath, she hopped over the hood of the car and began sprinting forwards to the other car. She kept her head down and ran quickly, once she got to the other car, she sat on the ground, her back against the front tire. 

"What a first day," Diana whispered to herself, staring straight, her gun held close to her. Is this what life in Santa Barbara was always going to be like? What's next? High speed chases? Diamond heists? She could feel her heart thrumming in her ears.

Glancing up, she saw Lassiter watching her. As soon as he saw she was safe, he focused his attention back on the ongoing battle in front of him. She lifted her head to look over the hood of the car. The shadows were dancing back and forth through the trees. She couldn't tell if it was five people or twenty, they were moving so fast. 

“God dammit,” she muttered. This still wasn’t close enough. She was going to have to run into the woods. It was crossbows, not guns, right? How bad could that be? She had to get in there to see what they were dealing with. Diana pulled herself off the ground, still in a ducked position, ready to run.

Just as she was psyching herself up to run into the woods, she heard Lassiter’s voice bark over the gunshots. “Brooks! Don’t even think about moving from that spot!” She looked over and met his eyes from across the scene. They were burning with anger, which Diana knew was not directed at her. 

Deciding that going against orders on the first day would be a bad idea, she positioned herself over the hood, aiming her gun into the woods, firing at whatever she saw move. She wanted so badly to sprint into the woods and figure out what they were up against. But not now, not today. 

After what seemed like forever, the crossbow bolts stopped suddenly, without warning. Diana knew better than to move from behind the car though, this could just be a tactic. Perhaps they just wanted them to come out from their hiding places. If these people were shooting at them with crossbows, they had to be intelligent, right?

Many silent moments passed. After what seemed like forever, she heard Lassiter call out an all clear. Diana didn’t even realize she was holding her breath until she left out a sigh of relief. Standing up from behind the car, Diana straightened her skirt and blazer, putting her gun back in it’s holster. Suddenly very aware of the stinging on her left cheek, Diana reached up and touched the cut on her face. When she looked at her hand, she saw more blood than she thought there would be. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a package of tissues and started dabbing at the wound.

A hand landed on Diana’s shoulder, and when she turned around, she was met with big brown eyes. Gus stared at her with concern.

“I’m okay, Gus. It looks worse than it is, really. Are you okay? You seemed pretty scared back there,” Diana asked, taking away the one blood soaked tissue and using a new one.

“Haha,” Gus laughed nervously, “I was not scared. I was using this new high frequency technique of scaring away bad guys. I think it worked.” He seemed pretty proud of this answer. 

Diana laughed to herself, switching tissues again. “Is that what they call it? You’ll have to teach me that sometime.” The bleeding just would not stop.

In that moment, Diana heard Lassiter call out her name. His gun still in his hand, put it away already, huh? His brows furrowed as he scanned her face, more specific, her cheek. Lassiter watched as she kept switching out blood soaked tissues for new ones.

“Brooks, will you stop using those tissues and come get proper medical attention?” Lassiter barked at her. He was standing in front of the ambulance, previously checking on other officers and civilians. Diana sighed, knowing she would need it. Walking towards him, she could only think about how ugly the bandage is going to look on her face for the next few weeks. Well, it would be a good story to tell in bars. Or when she facetimed back home. She can just imagine how much her sister is going to make fun of her. 

Just as Diana was an arms length away from Lassiter, she watched his jaw drop and his eyes widen. Her cheek wasn't that bad, what was he shocked over? It was like time slowed down, she followed his gaze slowly down to her stomach where there was a red dot. She knew that anywhere. What crossbow has laser sight? 

Before she could register muscle movement, she felt a body run into hers, knocking the wind out of her and her body falling towards the ground. Diana felt arms wrap around her waist as she fell to the ground. Her eyes closed on the way down, expecting to feel her head smack against the ground. But she didn’t even feel that, what she did feel was a hand cradling the back of her head, cushioning her fall. Diana could feel the warmth of Lassiter's body as he kept her close during the fall. Was that cinnamon that she smelled?

When their two bodies hit the ground with loud grunts, her body was being rolled against her will behind the ambulance, away from the line of fire. This business suit was really going to need to be brought to the dry cleaners after this. His hand stayed put on the back of her head, the other around her waist, keeping her body melded against his, rolling on his side a bit, protecting her from any bolts that may shoot their way. 

Diana kept her head tucked under his chin. She could feel her hear hammering in her chest. Or was that Lassiter’s? The yelling around the was drowned out by the sound of her breathing. It felt like she was listening to the commotion through a door. All she could do was sit on the ground and pray that nothing happened to her or her partner who was holding onto her for dear life. 

The pair of detectives heard several gunshots followed by more silence, another officer then called out the all clear once more. Diana lifted her head to look at Lassiter who was looking at her from above her. It just clicked in her head the position they were in. Her eyes widened and she felt her cheeks warm up. The head detective’s arms loosened from her waist as she got up and away from him. This was her first day, she had to at least _try_ to act professional. 

Straightening her skirt and blazer once again, Diana cleared her throat and held her hand out to help Lassiter up off the ground. He looked at her hand, ignored it, and got up without her help. He began brushing the dirt off his slacks and jacket, not saying a word. 

“Thank you, Lassiter,” Diana said sternly, studying his face. He looked up at her with his mouth set in a firm line. Why was he so angry? She didn’t get it. None of this was her fault. 

Then it clicked.

“Still think it was an animal attack, Detective?”


	3. Gentle To Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gunna have some continuity errors here.   
> The story takes place in 2008, but they have iPhones and up to date technology. I know, I know. Just bear with me.

Lassiter’s lips were drawn into a scowl, his eyebrows furrowed together. His hands came up to rest on his hips for a moment before he moved one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance. His legs seemed to never stop moving as he paced back and forth, thinking deeply about something. This case was stumping him and it annoyed him to no end.

Also he was too stubborn to admit he was wrong. 

The Head Detective reamed Diana out after they were able to safely give the all clear. 

“What were you thinking? That you could charge into the woods after a group of people?” He barked at her, pointing a finger in her face. Diana’s eyebrows furrowed together. She was not about to get screamed at over this. 

“Obviously whatever we were doing wasn’t working! I had to get closer to whatever was out there!” she yelled back, eye level with him. She was not going to back down from this argument. 

“And then what? Get shot? You saw how many bolts were flying back and forth! Did you think you wouldn’t get hit?” Lassiter yelled, putting his hands on his hips, glaring at her, “Good to know I was assigned a partner with no common sense!” 

Those words had stung a little more.

“I have common sense, Detective. I guess I also have more balls as well.” Diana huffed. She watched an emotion flash across his face, one she couldn’t quite place. Turning away, she marched over to the ambulance. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Shawn watching the argument, chewing something, probably the Snickers bar. 

Shawn and Gus had left after making a few rounds around the crime scene. Shawn paused to look at a few things before walking away. Both of their snickers bars were gone by the time they got into the bright blue echo. 

Diana was now sitting in the doorway of the back of the ambulance, one medic working on patching up the cut on her left cheek. There was a light blanket draped over her shoulders. Her first day and she already had an injury. She would’ve had a more serious one if Lassiter didn’t tackle her out of the way. She should have been more careful, she knew that whatever they were up against was intelligent. How could she have been so careless? She should’ve been thankful earlier, rather than yelling in his face. Especially after he saved her like that. But come on, he started it.

The medic standing in front of her was a younger girl, she was focused on bandaging Diana’s face. Her dark blonde hair tied into a ponytail, a bridge of freckles crossing her nose. This girl couldn’t have been older than 25. 

There was a slight shuffle sound, and when Diana looked up she saw Lassiter standing there, watching the medic put the bandage on her face. He looked stoic, she couldn’t get a read on his face. He just tore her a new one, and now he’s just going to sit there? 

By studying him for a moment, Diana could see the slight tear in the shoulder of the detective’s jacket.

“Detective? Did you get hit with one of the crossbow bolts?” Diana asked quietly. In the small time she knew him, she figured out he would not want this to be a big deal, even if he did get hit. Lassiter looked up and met her eyes, then looked over at the tear.

“No, it must’ve ripped when I hit the ground,” he said, playing with the tear. He seemed slightly annoyed. But, there were more important things right now than tears in suit jackets.

“I have a sewing kit back in my car at the station. When we get back, I’d be happy to fix it for you. It seems to be on the seam, an easy fix,” She cracked a sheepish smile at the head detective. Lassiter looked up at her and he had an expression that she couldn’t quite read. He looked almost shocked. The detective quickly cleared his throat and nodded his head.

The aftermath of arguments was never her favorite thing, or even something she was good at. Her tactic was always just to act like it didn’t happen. No, it was not the healthiest thing to do, but she hated conflict. 

“Thank you, Brooks,” he turned his attention to the medic, “How much longer is this going to take?” The medic stiffened at his angry tone, looking over her shoulder at him.

“I’m finishing up now, Detective.” she answered respectfully, but just by looking at her face you could see she was a bit annoyed from being rushed. There was a name tag on the medic’s shirt that read ‘A. Campbell’. “Alright, Detective Brooks. Make sure you disinfect the wound every morning. Sleep with a bandage on. Don’t scratch the wound. If it’s itchy, that means it’s healing. Shouldn’t be too long before it’s gone. You can put Neosporin on the wound to help.” Diana nodded, taking in all the information. In the corner of her eye, she saw Lassiter fidgeting with his phone. It just looked like he was swiping through any app that caught his attention. He must have opened the weather app 4 times. 

“Thank you, Miss Campbell,” Diana said with a small smile. Campbell nodded and turned to walk somewhere else. Shrugging the blanket off, Diana stood up from the ambulance. Stretching her legs and straightening her skirt, she turned her attention to the lanky detective standing in front of her.

“Ready when you are, Lassiter,” 

“Finally, let’s get the hell out of here,” Lassiter grumbled as he shoved his phone back in his pocket. Without even looking in her direction, he put his sunglasses on and began walking towards a navy blue Crown Victoria. Diana assumed she was riding back to the station with Lassiter. They’re partners after all, right? Well, temporary ones. 

While she followed Lassiter to the car, all Diana could think about was that attack. What prompted that? Whatever attacked them had to be whatever was behind the murder of Maddison Harris. There were so many crossbow bolts firing at them that there had to be several people in those woods. Was this the work of a cult? Was this even tied together at all? It’s possible that this was a separate event. Unlikely, but possible.

By the time Diana got to the car, Lassiter was staring at her, “What are you thinking?” he asked, opening the driver’s door. Diana opened the passenger side and slid into the seat, immediately closing the door behind her. She took note of how well kept and tidy the car was, it even smelled new. This man really cared for this car and it showed. 

“I’m thinking that if what just happened is tied to this girl’s murder, then we might be dealing with a cult or some sort,” she muttered, staring straight out of the windshield. Lassiter paused, taking in her words before he started the car. There was a moment of silence before the detective put the car into drive and drove off.

‘No response? Alright.‘ she thought as she glanced at him for just a moment. 

Silence hung in the air, not even the radio was playing. It wasn’t awkward, but it also wasn’t comfortable. She just kept thinking about their little spat on the scene. Diana bit her lip and fidgeted with the hem of her pencil skirt. There were several patches of dirt in the fabric, she tried brushing them off to no avail. She got these because he saved her. She  _ should _ apologize. Diana decided to break the silence.

“I’m sorry I was almost reckless,” she mumbled, turning her head to look at him. She watched as the muscles in his jaw tenses as he clenched it. His hands adjusted on the wheel as well. 

“It’s alright,” he grumbled, then there was that silence again, “I guess it is nice to know you have some balls though,” A smile cracked across her face and she saw a small one on his too. It was faint, but she could see the muscles in his cheek twitch. The energy in the car became more relaxed. 

Diana leaned her arm against the window and looked at the Santa Barbara scenery as they drove. She never thought she would be here, she never thought she would even leave New Jersey, let alone leave the East Coast. Everything was so different here. Even the pace in which people moved. Diana would swear that the people here moved in slow motion. There were places she needed to be and everyone acted as if they were out on a sunday drive.

Letting out a small yawn, Diana covered her mouth to try and conceal her exhaustion. Just last night she finally finished unpacking her belongings in her new apartment. It was a nice place, she had to say. Much nicer than any of the places she lived before. 

The car parked in front of a building that was most definitely not the precinct. Diana looked over at Lassiter who turned off the car.

“Where are we?” she asked, looking back out the window.

“I wanted a coffee, you yawned, so you can use one too,” Lassiter answered, unbuckling his seatbelt. Diana smiled and looked back at him. 

“I guess you’re right, I could use a coffee,” Lassiter paused for a moment, then his head snapped up to look at her. He had a small smirk on his face. 

“What did you just say?” He asked. Diana looked at him like he had two heads. What does he mean? She didn’t say anything odd.

“I.. I said I could use a coffee?” she said slower this time. Is this man secretly crazy? The smirk got bigger. It turned into a cocky grin. 

“Coffee.” Lassiter said smartly. 

Diana let out a groan and rolled her eyes, “I  _ do not _ have an accent, Lassiter.” This was a common argument she had with people back in college. Yes, she was from Jersey. But there was no way in Hell she would ever admit that she had any sort of accent. “Coffee.” she repeated. Lassiter just let out a small laugh and got out of the car. 

“Let’s go, Brooks. I’ll buy you a  _ caw-fee _ ,” he said snarkily. Diana got out of the car and shut the door a little harder than she needed to. “Where did you say you were from?”

“New Jersey,”

“Ah, so Snooki is my new partner,” Lassiter quipped as they walked into the coffee shop. Typical. A Jersey Shore comment.

“Ha ha, very original, Lassiter,” Diana rolled her eyes, “just for that you can buy me a blueberry muffin as well,” This banter between them came quite easy. The way McNab described this man, she thought she was going to have a hard time getting along with him. As soon as Lassiter approached the counter, once again, his demeanor changed. He hardened. He placed their order in a snippy, angry voice. 

Why did he do that? He was gentle with her and only her, but he just met her. Diana glanced over at him, he was standing with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall as they waited for their order. Was this the same reason people told her things about themselves? Was it her? She noticed this about him back on the scene when he spoke to Campbell. 

The detective must have felt her staring at him, he looked over and met her gaze, giving her a ‘what?’ look. She just shrugged and shook her head, not wanting to say anything. What was she supposed to say? ‘Why are you nice to me?’ Yeah, not happening.

Before she knew it, their coffees were ready, and there was, in fact, a small white bag containing a blueberry muffin inside it. A smile broke out over her face when she looked inside and saw it. 

“You didn’t have to,” she said walking next to him towards the car. He just shrugged and rounded the car towards the driver’s seat.

“Just don’t eat it in the car. Unless you want to vacuum the crumbs out of the carpet.” Lassiter said as he started the engine and pulled away.

“Yes sir,” she remarked happily and took a sip of her coffee. She could use the caffeine.

* * *

The drive back to the station was short. Lassiter parked in his designated spot and they walked into the bullpen together. The Head Detective immediately walked to his desk and pulled out some busy work, going back and forth between his computer and the paperwork in front of him.

Looking around the bullpen, she felt lost. Diana was not given a desk, she was given the job and then thrown into a crime scene. She bit her lip and looked around, fingers clenched around the bag holding her muffin, finally what caught her eye was the man from before, the one McNab said was named Henry Spencer. The desk he was sitting at was attached to Lassiter’s. He was looking directly at her with a small smirk. When they locked eyes, he waved her over. Diana quickly walked over to where he sat.

“Let me guess,” he started, “they didn’t give you a desk,” Henry leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Diana shook her head.

“No, no they did not.” she answered, offering him a sheepish smile. Her hand wandered up and started fiddling with the ends of her hair. Henry stood up from his desk, gathering a few of his things, including his coffee mug.

“Here,” he said, stepping away from the chair and motioning to the desk. Diana watched Lassiter’s head snap up and look at the both of them.

“You’re just giving her your desk?” Lassiter asked, his work suddenly forgotten.

“Juliet is undercover for a while and I’m only here for two or three days a week. By the time Juliet comes back, we’ll have figured this out. It’s just temporary,” Henry answered, “I’ll take her desk for now. Besides, you can get some face time with your partner,”

“Temporary partner,” Lassiter grumbled, looking back to his computer.

“That seems to be the word to describe me today, huh?” Diana mumbled to herself, then she turned her attention back to Henry. “Thank you so much for this. I’m Diana Brooks, by the way,” she said, holding her hand out for a shake. He took it and shook her hand before walking to a desk across the aisle. 

Sitting down at her  _ temporary _ desk, she scooted in and fiddled with the computer. Then it hit her. She had… no idea what she was supposed to do now. She picked her head up and looked at the detective sitting across from her. He was doing paperwork, there were forms all over his desk. There was even a metal basket full of more work that looked like it needed to be done. 

Should she ask him what to do? That was something she should definitely not do. Reaching up, she scratched her head and then her eyes caught the tear in his suit jacket. 

“Oh yeah!” she said, getting Lassiter’s attention, he looked up, “Your jacket, I can go get my little sewing kit and I’ll fix it for you,” she smiled at him. He just nodded and then looked back down at the paperwork. “I.. I don’t know what else to do anyway,” she mumbled under her breath. Lassiter didn’t say anything, but she knew he heard her. 

Walking out of the station, Diana walked towards her car parked in the parking lot. A small black car. It was her baby, she’s had this car for so long. It’s made it across the country, it can do anything. Unlocking the car, she sat in the passenger seat, keeping the door open as she reached in the glove compartment, looking for the sewing kit.

Finding the kit, she closed the compartment and then the passenger door. Diana stood still for a moment, she felt a chill go down her spine. It felt like someone was watching her, she could feel it, eyes boring into the back of her head. Rolling her shoulders back, she turned around, looking across the lot. Nothing, there was no one there. But even as she turned to look everywhere, she couldn’t shake the feeling.

It was the same feeling she felt in the woods. The only thing that was missing was the odd chill in the air. 

Diana took a couple steps around the lot, looking around wherever she could. There was no one around that was looking at her. It felt like no matter how much she turned, the eyes were on the back of her head. 

“You’re just being paranoid, Di… Just.. clear your head, let’s go back inside..” she whispered to herself and quickly made her way back into the police station. As soon as the doors closed behind her, the feeling went away. Her hand went up absentmindedly and started rubbing the back of her head, smoothing the hair down.

Walking back over to Lassiter, she came up behind him.

“I’ll take your jacket, Detective,” she said, holding the kit in her hand. Lassiter picked his head up and looked around the bullpen. Was he making sure no one saw him? Diana looked around, and in fact, no one was watching. He stood up and shrugged off his jacket and quickly handed it to her before sitting back down, and promptly turning back to his work. 

Furrowing her eyebrows, she opened her mouth to say something, then quickly decided it was not worth it to question what he was doing. It was just a jacket.

Diana sat back down and went to work on his jacket. It was still rather warm from him wearing it. She crossed her legs and got into a comfortable position with the jacket almost draped over her lap as she worked on the shoulder. 

Her fingers ran over the soft fabric as she sewed up the small tear. The smell of cologne slowly reached her nose. It smelled really good, like one of those smells you just want to curl up in. It also had the same hint of cinnamon that she smelled when he was shielding her from the crossbow bolts. She’s said it before, and she’ll say it again there is nothing better than a man that smells good.

Diana chuckled to herself as the thoughts crossed her mind.

“What’s funny? Lassie did you tell her one of your famous Knock-Knock jokes?” Shawn’s voice was all of a sudden right behind Diana. She nearly jumped out of her skin, he really snuck up on her. 

“Leave, Spencer,” Lassiter grumbled, not even bothering to look up. 

“But, Lassie, how will I tell you what I heard from Maddie Harris if I’m not here,” Shawn whined. When Diana looked up, she saw Gus standing behind him, his hands in his pockets. Diana smiled and waved at him. Shawn looked back over at her. “Hello, Princess Diana, how is your face?” 

“It’s fine, Shawn, thank you for asking. Just needed a bigger bandage,” she told him, turning her attention back to Lassiter’s jacket.

“Uh oh, Lassie, offering your Letterman’s jacket already? That is fifth date material,” Shawn quipped.

“Spencer,” Lassiter started.

“I’m fixing it, Shawn. Lassiter got a small tear in his shoulder when he hit the ground,” Diana interrupted before Lassiter could blow a gasket. Shawn made a kissy face and continued to harass him from a distance. “In fact, I’m all finished,” she said, holding it up and packing away the kit. 

Lassiter stood up from his desk and walked over, grabbed the jacket, muttered a thank you, and promptly left. Diana watched him stomp down the stairs and out of sight. What is his deal? One minute he’s nice and buys her food, the other he’s a jerk.

“Shawn, I don’t remember hiring you on a case,” Henry called out from Juliet’s desk.

“And I don’t remember Jules going bald,” Shawn replied, walking over and putting his hand on top of Henry’s head, which was immediately smacked away. Ah.  _ Spencer. _ Henry Spencer is Shawn’s father. Police work must run in the family. Diana watched them quip back and forth for a bit before her attention drifted elsewhere. She looked around the station, taking in the posters hanging on the wall and watching the officers walk around the bullpen. 

Her mind began to wander back to earlier, standing in the forest. What did she miss? There had to be something. All she could see in her head was the girl’s look of horror. That was her last look on her face. What could she have seen that incited so much terror on one girl. 

She definitely did not know her attacker if she was that mortified. Judging by the wounds, she would have died quickly or as soon as the wounds were inflicted. No one could survive those. There was no dirt in the wounds so her body wasn’t moved, that was the spot where she was killed. What was she missing? 


	4. Damoiseau In Distress

The air inside of Diana’s apartment held a welcoming warmth when she came home. It was November in Santa Barbara, but it still felt like summer time. Yet, at night, there was always a slight chill in the air. So once she got inside and kicked her shoes off, it felt like someone wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and said ‘welcome home’. 

Her first week at the Santa Barbara Police Department was a long one. Diana didn’t even expect it to be her first week. When she walked into the precinct, it was her impression that it was just going to be her first interview, but they were truly desperate for help and hired her on the spot. She was assigned to be the temporary partner of the most confusing and abrasive man in the entire state of California. 

Letting out a sigh, Diana shuffled into her kitchen, feeling the tension from the day fall from her shoulders. She shrugged off her blazer and untucked her dress shirt, throwing the blazer on the back of a chair. There was a glass of pink Moscato calling her name in that fridge, and oh lord she needed it. After seeing that young girl’s body in the woods earlier this week, her face frozen in horror, Diana was going to need more than one glass. It was all she could think about all week. Every night before she fell asleep, she saw Maddison Harris’ face.

Diana took the bottle out from the fridge and poured it into a wine glass she got from the cabinet. Leaning her back against the counter, her mind started to wander to the lanky detective she met this week. She can’t get a hold on how he feels about her, or even how she feels about him. In one moment he’s joking with her and in the other he’s cold and distant. But, when he was gentle with her, it was only with her, no one else. She would watch his demeanor take a 180 when he spoke with other people. 

All Diana wanted to do was get along with her temporary partner. She wasn’t really given a timeline on their partnership, but by the way Chief Vick talked about the undercover assignment Detective O’Hara was on, it seemed like it would be a while before she was back.

Diana drank the glass of wine a lot quicker than she should have, she was already placing an empty glass on the counter. She reached for the bottle and tried to shake away the thoughts of the blue-eyed man with whom she has to spend all of her time with. 

Just as Diana was about to pour another glass, he phone began ringing. When she looked over, she noticed an unfamiliar number on the screen. She reached over and picked up the phone, answering it, “Hello?”

“So you got away with just a scrape, huh?” the voice on the other side of the phone was unfamiliar. It was deep and gruff, sounding almost animalistic. A shiver ran down Diana’s spine and her blood ran cold. Her hand immediately flew to the bandage on her left cheek.

“Who is this?” Diana demanded into the phone. Her free hand gripping the edge of the counter, her knuckles turning white. 

“Did you enjoy your wine, detective?” the voice asked. Diana’s head whipped around, she looked around her entire apartment. He could see her? How could he see her right now? The hand that was gripping the counter immediately went to her holster and she took out her gun, thanking the lord that she didn’t take it off when she got home. There was a quiet laugh on the other end of the phone, “Relax, Detective, put your gun away. I’m not here to hurt you,” the voice paused, “not yet, at least. I did call because I love watching you panic. I find it quite enjoyable,” 

“Listen here, you bastard. We will find you, and you will be going to prison for a very _very_ long time,” Diana barked into the phone. She was walking to every window in her apartment and closing the blinds, locking all the doors, checking every closet and small space.

“I think that this apartment is the least of your worries,” there was that fucking laugh again. He was just toying with her and she knew it. 

“What does that mean?” She asked, stopping in place. Diana was standing in the middle of her living room, her eyes scanning the entire apartment. Where was he hiding? How could he see her?

“I would check on that other detective of yours,” he laughed once more before finally hanging up. 

Diana’s eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. 

_Lassiter._

Her hands fumbled with her phone as she called him. While keeping her phone between her shoulder and her ear, she put her gun away and started pulling on her shoes. With each ring she could feel her heart rate increase.

“Pick up, pick up, pick up,” she whispered while grabbing her car keys. The phone seemed to ring forever before she heard his voicemail message. He didn’t answer, it was only 8:30, there was no reason for him not to answer.

Diana decided to try and call him one more time as she ran out the front door, praying to hear his voice and tell her that he was alright. As she was sprinting through the parking lot to her car, the sound of his voicemail reached her ears once more.

“God dammit!” she cursed while sliding into the driver’s seat. Why was this happening? How did that guy even get her number? 

Just as Diana was about to put the car into drive, a thought hit her.

“I have no idea where Lassiter lives,” she said out loud. Diana bit her lip, trying to think. She thought of one idea. Just as soon as it popped into her head, she reached for her phone and started dialing a number. 

“Oh, hello?” Shawn’s voice rang out from the other side of the phone. Words started tumbling out of Diana’s mouth in pure panic. 

“Shawn! Lassiter is in danger! He won’t answer his phone and I don’t know his address, do you know what it is?” She yelled into the phone, her eyes looking around the lot frantically, making sure no one was following her. Diana looked over and checked to make sure she locked her car doors. 

“Uh, uh, yeah I know what it is. What’s wrong? What do you mean Lassiter is in danger?” Shawn asked, his voice starting to sound panicky. 

“I will explain later! Please just tell me his address!” Diana was practically begging at this point. She felt close to hysterics, tears were prickling at the corners of her eyes. It felt like there was an elephant sitting on her chest. 

Shawn quickly gave her Lassiter’s address and told her that he would meet her there with Gus and Juliet. Diana stomped on the gas and peeled out of the parking lot towards Lassiter’s house. She knew that he was strong and could protect himself, but if they’re dealing with anything they dealt with a week ago, then he didn’t stand a chance. 

* * *

It felt like her car couldn’t drive fast enough. She was flying down the road, her tires squealing with every turn she made. She prayed that a cop wouldn’t try and pull her over, it would only slow things down. Every second that she was on the road was a second that she wasn’t there for Lassiter. 

What could he be doing to Lassiter? Was he dead? Was he being tortured? Her mind was reeling with awful thoughts. She wasn't even focused on the road ahead of her.

Finally, she pulled into the parking lot of his apartment, she pulled into a spot and sprinted into the building. She barely had her key out of the ignition before she was out of the car. When she ran into the building, she spotted an elevator, but knew that it wouldn’t be fast enough. She shoved open the door to the stairs and ran up the three flights to his floor. 

Diana’s heart was thrumming in her ears, she could feel her pulse underneath her skin as she ran. The only thing she could think about was the idea that she may find him dead or severely injured inside his apartment. She quickly shook those thoughts out of her head, she cannot think about something like that right now. All she needed to do was find him and make sure he was okay. 

When she finally got to his floor, she huffed, catching her breath as she looked around for his door. Running up to his door, when she reached for the doorknob, unsurprisingly, it was locked. She started banging on the door, calling out for him.

“Lassiter?! Lassiter, it’s Brooks! Lassiter are you in there? Carlton!” she screamed, banging as hard as she could to get his attention if she was in there. Desperation was heavy in her words. Taking a deep breath, she decided that the best option would be to kick open the door. 

Diana banged on the door a few more times before taking out her gun, pausing for a second, and then kicked in the door with one solid movement. 

When she stepped inside, all of the lights were off. No lamps, no kitchen lights, no nothing. It was pitch black inside. She had her gun pointed forwards, ready to shoot anything that moved.

“Carlton?” She called into the apartment. Diana was stepping through the apartment carefully, scanning the entire room as she moved in, gun drawn. “Carlton, if you’re in here I need to know!” 

You could hear a pin drop in the room. Clearing the living room, she moved to the kitchen. Diana didn’t see anything as she moved around the apartment. She saw a stack of files on the dining room table, but she ignored them, continuing with her search. Taking a deep breath, she slowly made her way down the hallway, towards the bedroom. 

Her footsteps were so loud as she creeped down the hall. Even though she was placing them softly, it still sounded so loud. Every creak in the floorboards sent her blood pressure through the roof. Even her breathing was loud. 

The door to the bedroom was closed when she got in front of it. She grabbed the handle and slowly turned it, “Carlton?” she called in while she opened the door. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she peeked inside. The grip on her gun tightened as she looked around in the darkness. There was no sound, no light, once again, no nothing. Where is he?

Diana was walking out of the bedroom when she heard a quiet string of curses coming from the front door, then she quickly ducked back into the bedroom. She would not have even heard them if she wasn’t so hyper aware of everything around her at the moment. Who the hell was here? 

She pressed her back against the wall next to the bedroom door, angling her head to look into the hallway. Diana was holding her gun in front of her, ready to attack whoever was inside this apartment. She could hear the quiet footsteps making their way to the bedroom, she knew she had to strike. This was the only chance she had to get the upper hand. 

In one motion, she turned and pointed her gun at whoever was standing in the hallway. What she wasn’t expecting was to come face to face with another gun. 

“ _Brooks?!_ ” Diana has never been so relieved to hear that voice. She knew that grumbly voice anywhere. She was currently staring down the barrel of Head Detective Carlton Lassiter’s gun. Immediately, she lowered her gun and took a step towards him. It was still so immensely dark in his apartment, she had to be sure. 

“Lassiter! Is that you?” Diana asked, relief heavy in her voice.

“Of course its me. It’s _my_ apartment that you decided to break into!” He yelled at her, lowering his gun and putting it back in his holster.

She couldn’t help herself, she was so relieved to see him. Diana walked up to him and threw her arms around his neck, holding him close to her. A small surprised noise came from Lassiter, he was very obviously not expecting this. 

“I thought you were going to be dead,” she said quietly into his shoulder, realizing now that she was shaking the slightest bit. Diana had been in fight or flight mode for the past hour and it was just now starting to leave her body, exhaustion taking its place. She was surprised that her legs hadn’t given out yet.

She was more surprised when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist, returning the hug.

“What happened, Diana?” Lassiter said softly. He used her first name. He’s never used her first name. It sounded so nice coming off of his tongue, so gentle.

After a few seconds, she pulled away from him, putting her gun back into it’s holster and taking her phone out of the pocket in her pencil skirt. 

It wasn't until now that she realized how disheveled she looked. Her dress shirt was untucked and she had on a pair of shoes that didn't even go with her outfit. Diana felt embarrassed standing in front of Lassiter looking like this. Her hair was in a messy bun, pieces falling out and framing her face. 

“He called me,” she said, showing the restricted number on her phone, Diana watched Lassiter’s eyes harden and his brows furrow angrily, “he told me what I was doing in my apartment, as if he could see me. Then he told me that I should be more worried about you, so I panicked and came over here as fast as I could. When you didn’t answer the door I panicked and kicked in the door and was going around praying you wouldn’t be lying dead inside your own apartment. I’m so sorry, Detective, I’m-” Diana was cut off by Lassiter holding his hand up. It wasn’t in a rude way, like he normally would, he just wanted to stop her hysterical rambling. 

“He called you?” Lassiter asked, putting his hands on his hips. She nodded, handing him her phone.

“I also called you twice, Carlton. You didn’t answer your phone, so I came here to make sure you were okay. I got your address from Shawn.” Diana said quietly.

As soon as she mentioned Shawn’s name, the front door flew open again and revealed O’Hara standing there with her gun drawn, pointed at them. It was so dark inside of the apartment, she probably just say two tall figures standing there.

“Hands in the air!” O’Hara yelled at them, walking closer to the hallway. Lassiter quickly turned around with his hands on his hip.

“O’Hara, it’s us, you can put that away.” He quipped, “I’m going to need a new door,” he muttered that last part under his breath, walking closer to O’Hara. As Juliet lowered her gun, looking relieved, Shawn and Gus popped their heads in from the hallway. A grin crossing Shawn’s face when he saw they were both safe.

“Lassie! You’re okay! Diana had us so worried about you! You should have heard her on the phone!” Diana felt a small blush creep up on her cheeks.

“I was worried about him. A murderer personally called me, telling me I should be worried about him.” Diana said, crossing her arms. She really caused this entre fuss over nothing? Was this guy’s goal just to embarrass her?

By the time she finished her sentence, they were all standing in the living room.

“Why are you all standing in the dark?” Gus asked from the door. His hand hovering over the light switch before turning them on. Diana was blinking her eyes rapidly, they had just gotten used to the dark. Juliet turned to look towards Diana and let out a gasp, staring behind her.

When someone gasps while looking behind you, it’s never a good thing. Diana felt her heart drop and she was scared to turn around. One by one, everyone in the room followed Juliet’s line of sight to the wall behind Diana.

Written in blood, in huge letters across the wall, ‘ _Welcome home, Detective’_. And a dead animal, what looked like a cat, sat on the floor. Well, that’s where the blood came from. Diana’s hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. She heard Lassiter take a huge breath of air and let it out with a quiet ‘son of a bitch’.

“Oh my god,” Diana muttered under her breath. Her eyes followed each letter. Was this here when she got here? Was he finishing up when she got here and she was in the same room as him? This man was truly sick. This was the work of a psychopath. 

“We have to call this into the station, Lassiter,” Juliet started, pulling her phone out. Lassiter just grumbled a response, walking closer to the wall, taking a closer look. His hands were balled up fists at his side, she could feel the tension coming from him. Juliet turned away and walked outside of the apartment to make the call. 

“So he was right,” Lassiter started, turning to look at Diana, “he was right that something was going to happen to me. He left this message because I wasn’t here.” The detective’s eyes held so much anger in them. How could he not feel angry? His privacy was invaded.

“Who knows what he would’ve done if you were here, Lassie,” Gus added. When Diana looked at him, his face was drained of any color and he was so anxious. Gus’ eyes refused to look at the wall, in fact, he was looking at everything _but_ the wall. 

Lassiter let out a grunt and walked over to the couch, sitting down and leaning his elbows on his knees, one leg shaking anxiously. Diana’s eyes scanned over him, she couldn’t imagine what was going through his head right now. This murderer was able to get inside of Lassiter’s apartment, and he knew where hers was. They needed to stick together from here on out; protect each other.

Diana started walking towards the couch, sitting down next to Lassiter. He didn’t even glance at her while she sat down. They sat there for a moment, not saying a word. All she wanted to do was comfort him, reach out and hug him once more, but knowing him, he wouldn’t like that. 

“Carlton,” she started, talking in a volume only he could hear. Shawn and Gus were walking around the apartment, trying to see if ‘any spirits would communicate with Shawn’. Lassiter looked over at her. “You know it won’t be safe to stay here. Plus, they would need to clean up your wall. Why don’t you come stay with me? I have a spare bedroom. Everything is nice and clean since I just moved in. I just think that we need to stick together, he’s targeting both of us.” He stared at her, considering her words.

“Thank you, Brooks. I think that’s a smart idea.” Lassiter said quietly, then turned to stare straight ahead. His muscles were tense, his jaw set in a firm line. Lassiter’s fists clenched and unclenched a number of times. He was angry, in fact, angry wasn’t even a proper way to describe it, he was _livid._ Someone broke into the _Head Detective’s_ apartment. 

The anger inside Lassiter looked like it was about to reach a boiling point, Diana could swear she saw a vein pop in his neck. O’Hara walked back into the apartment and looked over at the two sitting on the couch, they were targeted tonight, both of them. Juliet walked over and sat down on the couch on the other side of Lassiter.

“I am so sorry, you two,” she started, “It isn’t fair that this is happening to the both of you. Whoever this is, is seriously sick and twisted.” Lassiter let out an angry grunt and stood up quickly. Grabbing his gun from the holster, he marched towards the door. Diana immediately stood up from the couch and grabbed his arm.

“What are you doing, Lassiter?” She asked, holding him in place. Lassiter reeled around and stared at her, glancing down at her hand that held his arm, then back up at her eyes. 

“I have to go out and find _something_.” He barked back at her. Diana felt the muscles in his arm under her hand tense up.

“So you’re just going to go outside and shoot at anything that moves? He’s gone, Lassiter. He’s too clever to still be here!” She yelled back, trying to talk some sense into him. 

“I can’t sit here and do nothing!” Lassiter was right up in her face.

“There is nothing you can do right now. Where is your common sense? Use your head, Carlton,” Diana searched his eye, they were full of anger and hatred. Not towards her, towards the situation. Towards the man that broke into his apartment and left a threatening message, the man that called Diana and watched her from a point out of view. Lassiter was so angry with him.

The pair stared at each other in silence for a moment, no one saying a word. Energy bounced back and forth between them. Lassiter’s eyes stared right into hers, she could see so much behind them. All of the gears were turning in his head, his detective brain was at work.

Suddenly, he let out a deep breath and stepped away. Diana’s hand fell back to her side, her eyes not leaving Lassiter’s face. He looked down at the ground, putting his gun away. He lifted his head to look at her, then around the room, before walking off and into his bedroom. 

Diana sighed and looked over at Juliet, who was still sitting on the couch. Juliet gave her a shrug and a sympathetic look, she has seen many Lassiter freak-outs in her time.

There was a whistling sound that came from behind them. Diana turned around to see Shawn standing there with his hands in his pockets.

“Nothing like a good old fashioned Lassie freak-out to bring a crime scene home,” he said with a small, smug smile. Diana frowned and looked back at the wall that had the threatening writing on it. She couldn't help but stare at the dead animal on the ground. Why the cat? Was that significant? Or was it just what he had at his disposal? 

“Shawn, have some sympathy, the man just had a killer break into his apartment,” Gus chided back at his partner. 

“I think it was just a bit dramatic, don’t you think?” Shawn quipped back.

“It was not dramatic, it was perfectly justified!” Gus argued back.

They went on like this for a few minutes, but it just faded into the background as Diana zoned out. She sat back down on the couch, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. Sticking together was the smartest option. They didn’t know anything about this man. There was only one victim. Well, they only knew of one. 

Could there be more? They were going to have to comb those woods. There could be so many more victims that they didn’t even know about. Diana made a mental note to go through the missing persons files tomorrow. She was supposed to take the day off but she just couldn’t see herself doing that now. 

Diana was so lost in thought that by the time the uniforms arrived, Shawn and Gus had left, leaving her there next to Juliet. A worker on the forensics team started taking pictures of the wall while another started gathering the dead animal into an evidence bag.

Juliet had gotten up and started talking to some of the officers while Diana stayed on the couch, looking around the room. She hadn’t taken the time to realize how nice Lassiter’s apartment was. It was so clean. She knew he was a very clean and organized person, but it looked like it was a showroom at Ikea. 

Diana felt a presence behind her, when she turned around, she saw Lassiter standing there with a suitcase. She stood up from the couch and stepped closer to him.

“Do you want to stay until they finish cleaning up?” 

“No,” he said sternly.

“C’mon, I’ll drive,” Diana said softly, nodding her head towards the door. Her keys in her hand. She was fumbling with them, trying to find her car keys. Then, in a blink of an eye, they weren’t in her hand anymore.

“No, I’ll drive,” he snipped at her, walking towards the door. All she could do was smile weakly as she followed the lanky detective out of his apartment.


	5. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pair of detectives return home from one of the longest nights ever.

The ride to Diana’s apartment was a quiet one, she could practically feel energy coming off of Lassiter as he drove her car. The only talking between the two of them was every time Diana had to pipe up to give the detective directions to her apartment. 

Lassiter was upset, she was too. They were both played as fools tonight. The idea that there was some man, some  _ murderer _ that knows where both she and Lassiter lived turned her stomach. He spied on her tonight, he watched her every move through a window or maybe even from inside the house. The creep watched her, studied her, _mocked_ her. She felt like a fool, a damned fool. 

“Hey Lassiter?” Diana asked, he eyes moving over towards the lanky man driving her car.

Baby blue eyes left the road for a moment to glance over at her. “What?” he asked.

“I just realized something. He was talking to me on the phone, he was describing what I was doing. I went around and closed every window in the apartment. But now, I’m wondering if he was inside, watching me from a closet or something.” she muttered quietly, a shiver running up her spine when she thought about it, “I didn’t even do a proper sweep, I ran out of the house to go find you,” her hands started fidgeting in her lap. 

Lassiter’s hands tightened slightly on the wheel as he stared straight ahead. “We’ll do a sweep once we get there,” he muttered, quieter than she thought he would be. Diana didn't think this man could be quiet. He always had some sort of snide comment or arrogant saying. But ever since he saw his living room wall covered in blood, his mouth seemed sewn shut. She didn't blame him either. 

Then, once again, silence fell in the car.

They were driving along one of the main roads when Diana felt her stomach growl. She shifted in the passenger seat and looked out the window. She hadn’t eaten all day. When she got home, she expected to unwind with a glass of wine and possibly order out. It was a Friday night, and all she wanted to do was unwind and decompress after her first week at the precinct. 

Instead, she was riding in the passenger seat of her own car after being in Lassiter’s apartment.

Diana glanced over at the detective, his eyes were hard but she could see bags underneath his eyes. This man was exhausted, understandably so. 

“Have you eaten dinner, detective?” Diana asked, breaking the silence. 

“No, that was my plan when I got home. Things changed when I saw my door kicked in,” he grumbled.

Diana felt a pang of guilt for a second, Lassiter must’ve noticed the change in her mood.

“You had no other choice, Brooks. I would’ve done the same thing.” he added, turning into a parking lot.

Diana looked out the window to see a pizza parlor, she looked back at him with a questioning look. Lassiter pulled into a parking spot and glanced over at her.

“I heard your stomach growl and I’m hungry too. This was the first place that came to mind,” he shrugged, turning the car off and getting out. Diana looked back at the restaurant before getting out of the car. Lassiter was waiting for her, his eyes following her while she got out of the car.

They walked side by side into the pizza parlor, Diana glancing around the place when they walked inside. Lassiter walked up to the counter to place an order while Diana stayed by the door. 

She glanced around at the different pictures that hung on the wall, a few happened to be famous celebrities that have come into the store. But Diana couldn’t help but notice the picture of Shawn and Gus hanging up as well. The signature read ‘ _ The spirits told me this was the best pizza place in Santa Barbara, they were right. Xoxo Shawn Spencer and Bruton Gaster _ ’.

“I still can’t believe he gets away with that,” Diana muttered under her breath.

“I can’t either,” Lassiter’s voice made Diana jump a little. When she turned to look at him, he was sneering at the picture.

“I get the impression you really don’t like them,” Diana turned back and looked at the picture. Well, Shawn wasn’t that great at taking pictures, huh? He was making the weirdest face. His chin was just tucked completely towards his neck. Meanwhile Gus looked like himself. 

Lassiter let out a scoff and turned away, “All they do is get in the way of proper police investigations,” he crossed his arms over his chest, his lips pulled into a sneer. Man, he did not like those two.

“But they at least help out, right?” she turned her gaze from the picture to look at his face. He was staring straight ahead, she could practically see the vein in his forehead popping. 

“If you want to call it helping, go right ahead, I’ll call it an obstruction of justice,” Lassiter grumbled.

They stood in silence for a moment before their order was called and Lassiter walked over to grab it. When he was walking back over to Diana, she looked at his jacket pocket and saw her keys sitting in there.

Well, he  _ was  _ busy carrying the pizza box, she might as well grab them, also she wanted to drive her own damn car!

Once Lassiter got close to her, she studied his face, which was looking at her with a weird expression, almost as if he could tell she was plotting something. His eyebrows furrowed together and his mouth formed a half frown. 

“What’s that look for?” he asked her once he was standing right in front of her. 

She looked at him, then quickly glanced down to the keys sticking out of his pocket. In one quick movement she reached for his jacket and slid her hand in, grabbing the keys. Diana felt as Lassiter’s entire body stiffened, all muscles going rigid for a moment. 

“Just what the hell are you doing, Brooks?!” Lassiter barked while trying to step away from her grasp. He looked like a child with his little quick movements. It was so different from the graceful moves she's become accustomed to. 

Diana pulled her keys right out of his jacket and held them up proudly, “It’s my car, I get to drive it,” she said smugly, offering him a smirk. Lassiter just glared at her. There was a small tinge of pink growing on his cheeks. Was he blushing? The detective was standing sort of stiffly, just watching, then her words must have processed, because that annoyed look came back to his features.

He said nothing as he walked out the door towards the car. The smile stayed on her face as she walked triumphantly behind him.

The teasing between them came easy. Lassiter never snapped at her the way he would when other people would poke fun at him. In the week she’s been there, Diana has seen Lassiter put Shawn in a headlock twice. But when Diana would tease him, he would stay quiet and she would always see a tinge of pink cross his cheeks. 

The pair reached the car and slid inside. “I also don’t like riding with a pizza box on my lap. It gets too hot and burns my legs,” Diana giggled and turned the car on. When she glanced over at Lassiter, he had the box on his lap and his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes didn’t hold the same angry glint in them that they have when Shawn speaks to him, they were softer, but Diana could see the bags growing underneath his eyes.

Wordlessly, she put the car in drive and drove off towards her apartment. There was a comforting warmness between them. It almost felt like when you’re coming home from a long vacation, or when you’re on your way home from college. It wasn’t the worst feeling in the world.

* * *

Diana pulled into the parking garage of her building and put the car into park. The pair of detectives sat in silence. The fact that someone might be in her apartment crept into her mind. She felt an uneasiness sit in her stomach like a rock. Her hands were still resting on the steering wheel. Glancing over at the head detective in the passenger seat, she noticed that he was staring at her, a serious expression on his face.

The look had a protective element to it, like Lassiter wanted to make sure she was okay before they walked inside. That's another thing she's noticed this week. It seemed like every day he became more and more protective of her. Hovering closer during any sort of dangerous situation, asking if she was okay the moment everything was clear. Hell, she even caught him looking for her after she had gotten up to go to the bathroom once. 

“I’m just concerned someone might be inside,” Diana muttered quietly. Lassiter nodded, staying quiet. Slowly, he reached over and turned the key, taking it out of the ignition for her. He held the keys in his hand and held them out for her to grab.

Diana was trying to focus on anything but the fact that they had to go inside and sweep her own apartment. She tried to think of home, the feeling of being on the beach, the sun on her skin and the salt in the air. But, the smell of pizza was filling the car, making her stomach let out a loud growl.

“Come on, Brooks,” Lassiter said gently, moving the keys closer to her. Diana looked over at him and into his eyes. Such gorgeous blue eyes. They were trained on her face, studying her expression.

After another moment of silence, Lassiter reached out with his other hand and grabbed one of hers off of the steering wheel, holding it out. His hands felt calloused but soft at the same time. They were warm and firm and the feeling sent a calmness through her. Holding her palm facing up, Lassiter dropped the keys into her hand, then closing her fingers over them. He kept both of his hands closed over her one. Lassiter’s baby blue eyes never left her moss green ones. 

Diana’s face started to feel warm, a small tinge of pink crossing her cheeks. 

“I’m glad we decided to stick together, Carlton,” Diana whispered, not breaking eye contact with him. The warmth from his hands was radiating up her arm. If she was alone right now, there was no way she could convince herself to go inside. She might’ve spent the night in a motel, or her car for that matter. 

Lassiter nodded and released her hand. Diana couldn’t help but miss the feeling of his hands around hers, it made her feel stable. 

Taking a deep breath, she broke eye contact with him and opened the car door, stepping outside. Diana glanced in the back seat at Lassiter’s suitcase. He was busy carrying their dinner, she can grab his things. Diana opened the door and grabbed the bag.

“You don’t have to do that, Brooks, I can grab it,” Lassiter said quickly, placing the box on the roof of the car.

“Don’t worry about it, you have to carry the precious cargo,” she smiled weakly, motioning to the pizza box he just put down. If she kept stalling, by the time they ate, the pizza was going to be ice cold. 

Diana grabbed the bag and began walking towards her building, Lassiter following easily behind her. 

“So what's the plan when we get in there?” Diana asked, trying to switch into cop mode. She was taking deep breaths, but she could feel her heart beating out of her chest. 

“We do a proper sweep, leave no area unchecked, we have to make sure we look everywhere,” Lassiter said, his tone all business. 

The walk towards her door felt like a death march. Diana has done tons of sweeps before, but this one was so personal that it was affecting her emotions, her sanity felt paper thin. 

Once they were in front of the door, Diana placed Lassiter’s bag on the ground, fumbling with her keys. Her fingers were shaking, every time she thought she had the right key, it would slip between her fingers. Frustration was pooling in Diana’s stomach.

‘ _ Pull yourself together, Diana. What is wrong with you? _ ’ Diana thought to herself. 

A warm hand once again covered hers, that familiar warmth returning.

“I’m so sorry, Lassiter. I’m not usually like this, I’m sorry,” Diana apologized profusely. This was so embarrassing, the head detective seeing her like this. Her face felt hot, her eyebrows furrowing together. 

“It’s alright, Diana. Just calm down, okay? I’m sure everything is clear.” His voice was so smooth and low. He was standing so close to her, not only could she feel the warmth from his hand, but also she could feel the warmth from his body. There was a chill to the November Santa Barbara air, so the man standing in front of her was a welcomed comfort.

He smelled so good too. Like one of those fresh colognes you smell in the men’s section of Bath and Body Works. Diana took a deep breath, the scent was so fresh. It reminded her of the cologne her dad used to wear on special occasions. He would wear a comfy cashmere sweater, and when she would hug him, she would smell this fresh cologne. 

This man calmed her down so easily. Diana took a deep breath, looking at Lassiter’s face. His eyes studying her the same way they did in the car. She felt a surge of confidence enter her body.

“Just remember, I just finished unpacking, it doesn’t have that 'homey' feel yet,” she said with a sly smile. Lassiter returned her statement with a cocked eyebrow and an 'are you kidding?' look. 

Diana turned towards the door, grabbing the right key and unlocking the door in one quick movement. She pushed open the door and the air inside was still. The lights inside were still on, it looks just like she left it. Even her shoes that she kicked off earlier still laid there. 

The pair of detectives stood outside the door, before they glanced at each other, nodding, then looking back inside. They took a step inside, Lassiter placed the pizza box on a table next to the door and Diana put down the suitcase, closing the door behind her. Once the door was shut, she locked the bolt with a comforting click. 

Both of them took out their guns and started sweeping through the house, starting with the living room. They checked behind the couches and each chair. Once the area was clear, they nodded at each other and moved towards the kitchen.

The bottle of wine and glass that Diana had opened still sat on the counter, untouched. The kitchen seemed to be the same as how she left it. When she looked around the apartment, everything was as it should be. The pair declared the kitchen clear, so they made their way down the hall.

Diana motioned her head down the hall towards her bedroom, “That’s the master bedroom, let’s check there next,” Lassiter nodded and followed her lead, taking careful steps down the hall. The air inside her apartment was so silent that she could hear both of their breathing. 

They both had their guns trained forward, when one pointed left, the other pointed right. They worked so well together, a perfect team. She felt protected with him at her back, she knew nothing was going to take her by surprise.

Once they reached the door, Diana grabbed the handle and pushed open the door. A rush of cool air reached her like a gentle breeze. Both Diana and Lassiter stepped into the room in unison, the room looked like how she left it, just like the rest of the house.

After looking around the room, they both lowered their guns, then put them back into the holster.

“I guess we’re all clear, right Lassiter?” Diana asked, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Yes, I suppose,” he replied, loosening his tie a bit. The tension was leaving his shoulders by the second. He was relieved as much as she was.

After a nod between them, they left the bedroom and walked out to the kitchen, exhaustion was settling in. All Diana wanted to do was eat her pizza and then go to bed. The blankets were calling her name. She knew that as soon as she got to bed, she would fall asleep the second her head hit the pillow. 

That pizza just smelled so good right now, Diana could feel her mouth watering. Lassiter set the box on the counter in the kitchen. Diana was getting paper plates out and setting out a little dinner setting on the island in her kitchen.

“What do you want to drink, Lassiter? Water?” Diana asked, looking in her fridge. It was bare bones in there, she really really needed to go grocery shopping. 

The head detective grunted out a yes, sitting down on one of the barstools at the counter, leaning his head against his hand. The bags under his eyes were getting darker and darker. Tomorrow was going to be a much needed day off for the two of them. 

After gathering their food, the pair ate in silence. This late night dinner was much needed for them. Today was a rough one, neither of them could deny that. But this was only the beginning of the investigation. These detectives were a week in on something that had no end in sight. It seems like they only just made an enemy that night. Was it going to get worse? 

With all of these negative thoughts swirling around in her head, Diana’s shoulders began to tense, her eyes trained on her countertop. 

Lassiter must’ve noticed her energy change, he looked up at her, finishing up his food.

“You okay, Brooks?” he asked quietly, cleaning up his place at the counter. 

“I’m just worried, that’s all, Lassiter. This just doesn’t feel like a normal investigation. It feels like there’s so much more on the line right now. More than usual, don’t you think?” Diana asked. Lassiter considered her words for a moment, thinking deeply.

“Yeah,” he nodded, looking down, “It’s more personal. This bastard came after us personally, Diana. We have to be on guard at all times now, got it?” he said, looking up at her.

All Diana could muster was a nod. She wordlessly got up and cleaned up her place setting, putting any leftovers in the fridge.

“I need some sleep, and I know you do too. The spare bedroom is right across the hall from the master. The bathroom is next to your room. Get some sleep, Carlton. Lord knows we both need it,” Diana muttered, offering the detective a small smile before shuffling off towards the hallway.

She stopped for a moment and turned around, “And seriously,” she added, “thank you. I wouldn’t have gotten through today without you,” she whispered before walking off. 

And although it was faint, Diana would swear she heard the angry detective mumble, “Me either, Diana.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I'm taking so long to upload, last few weeks of the semester means exams.


	6. Run, Rabbit, Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana is taken by surprise when she is all by herself.
> 
> TW: very gory chapter, sorry!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: This chapter contains some gore!

Diana’s night sleep could be described in one word: restless. 

It felt like every single time she was about to drift off to sleep, she felt like she could sense someone else in the room and her eyes would snap open, she would grab her gun off the night table, and she would sit up straight, a layer of sweat on her body. 

The thought of someone watching her kept Diana from even thinking peacefully. The events of the day before were haunting her. 

Diana did feel slightly safer knowing that the head detective was in the room right across the hall. She kept wondering if he was getting any sleep or if he was in the same boat as her.

It was around 5:00 AM when she finally gave up trying. 

Throwing off the blankets, Diana swung her feet over the side of the bed and sat there for a long period of time, her head resting in her hands. 

The bedroom was silent, the only sound she could hear was her breathing. Diana has a slight headache from not sleeping, it felt like her eyes were straining. Maybe a cup of coffee would help her wake up? Or maybe changing rooms would help her sleep?

Diana slowly stood up from her bed and padded over to the door, walking into the hallway. The apartment was so quiet, it was eerie. But at the same time, if there was any noise, it would be even creepier. 

While she stood in the hallway, she stared at the guest bedroom door which was shut. Detective Carlton Lassiter was in there, possibly sleeping. He’s seen much more horrifying things in his time as a detective than she has. This was her first real case as an official detective. Lassiter was probably sound asleep. Diana hoped for his sake that he was.

Yesterday was a long day for the pair. Diana thought that with how exhausted her body was when she went to sleep, that she would get some rest, but her brain had other ideas. It just always felt as though a pair of eyes were staring over her. 

She turned her attention away from the guest bedroom door and walked towards the kitchen. When she flicked the lights on, she stood there, not moving. Her body was so exhausted, but there was no way her brain was going to let her sleep. 

Diana walked over to the coffee maker and began prepping some grounds to go into the machine. Technically, the two had the day off today, but Diana knew Lassiter, there was no way he wasn’t going to go into the station today. Not after it got this personal. 

But she wanted this day off so bad. 

The young detective padded over to the TV that you could see from the kitchen and turned it on at a low volume. The first channel that popped on was the news. Her eyes flickered down to the headline.

‘ _ Trailside Butcher Terrorizes Santa Barbara _ ’

“Trailside Butcher, huh?” Diana muttered to herself, watching the news reporter discuss the facts that they have released to the public. Thinking about how the case took a complete turn last night made Diana’s stomach do cartwheels. It was just a simple case two days ago, it turned into something more personal and malicious now. 

The smell of coffee drew her attention away from the television. The bags under her eyes felt so heavy, caffeine is going to feel great. Or it’ll just make her shaky and more anxious, she’s going to hope for the first one. 

Pouring the coffee into a mug, she pulled out creamer and sugar, fixing it the way she liked before walking over and sitting back on the couch. The news just became background noise as she was just lost in her thoughts.

After Diana finished her coffee, she laid on the couch, her head resting on the armrest, legs curled up. Her eyelids finally started to feel heavy and she drifted off to sleep. But it was one of those sleeps where you feel asleep but you can still hear what’s going on around you.

Eventually, Diana heard a door open and the shuffling of feet on the carpet in the hallway. A few seconds after the one door opened, she heard another close. Diana assumed it was Lassiter walking from the spare bedroom to the bathroom. She had no idea what time it was or how long she had been laying there. 

The door opened again and she heard footsteps walking towards where she was laying. Diana heard Lassiter putz around the kitchen for a few moments and then walk closer to the couch where they eventually stopped for a couple seconds. 

He smelled so good, even from here. Lassiter had just showered so he smelled so fresh and clean. It was a pleasant and refreshing smell as he stood next to the couch where she rested her eyes. Pine and lavender.

All of a sudden, Diana felt a blanket being draped over her resting form. Lassiter’s hands adjusted the blanket so that it was covering her entire body. One hand tucked the blanket behind her arm as she laid on her side. The detective’s arm lingered on her bicep for one moment, she even felt a gentle squeeze. 

As Lassiter leaned over her, moving the blanket, she could feel the warmth radiating off of him. Coming in the same waves as the refreshing smell of his aftershave and cologne. She wanted nothing more than to reach out and grab him, then drag him down onto the couch with her. 

‘ _ What?’  _ Diana thought in her head. ‘ _ Where did that urge come from? _ ’ she chided herself. This man was her partner, and he was only her partner for a week so far. She had to think professionally about this man!

Eventually Lassiter walked away and into the kitchen. Then all she heard was the TV and after a few moments, a real sleep took over her and she was in dreamland. 

* * *

When Diana woke up, she felt a lot more well rested than she did earlier this morning. She sat up slowly and looked around the room, Lassiter was nowhere to be found. She looked down at the blanket that was on her and smiled. He definitely was developing a soft spot for her.

Diana got up off the couch and looked around. The TV was playing a different show that she didn’t recognize. When she looked over at the counter, she noticed a piece of paper. Padding over to the kitchen, she glanced at the letter on the countertop. 

_ Diana,  _

_ Got a call from Vick to come into the station. Get some rest today. Be home early.  _

_ \- Lassiter  _

Well, she had the day to herself. Diana had no groceries in the house, she also needed to run some errands.

She officially decided that she was going to get ready and go out and do some shopping. She definitely couldn’t stay at the apartment by herself, she would go insane. If she even heard a creek in the floorboards, she might end up shooting her windows out.

Taking a deep breath, Diana looked around the apartment, she was going to be so paranoid until this bastard was behind bars. She needed to get out of the house. 

She walked down the hallway and started to get ready. 

* * *

After a shower and doing her hair and makeup, Diana put on a pair of nice jeans and a big sweater which she tucked into the front of the jeans, then put on a pair of boots. 

Diana posed in the mirror and smiling to herself, she looked damn cute today! Her long blonde hair framed her face nicely. She walked out of her bedroom and grabbed her shoulder bag and keys, taking one glance around the apartment, making sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. 

Paranoia rang in her ears for a moment before she locked the door. Diana turned back around and walked back into the apartment, checking every single door and window that led into her home. 

There was one door that led to a balcony outside. It was a glass double door. The balcony was actually a bit of a selling point for this place, but now she hated the fact that it was there. It was an easy way for a creep to get inside her place.

Diana turned and took a broom out of the hall closet and walked over to the balcony doors, putting the broom handle through them. She let out a small sigh of relief, then turned to leave the apartment again. 

Locking the door behind her, she bolted both the deadbolt and the handle. She was so paranoid now. She can only imagine how much Lassiter locks his door and the so-called ‘Trailside Butcher’ was able to get inside there. Maybe a broom won't be enough. 

This guy only invaded Lassiter’s last night, he wouldn’t try something the day after, right?

Diana shook the thoughts out of her head and walked to the parking garage, keeping her keys between her fingers. The detective had a gun in her bag, but she still felt the need to keep them between her fingers.

“It’s great to be a woman,” she mumbled under her breath as she walked to her car. The sound of her boots echoed throughout the parking garage, her senses hyperaware. 

Diana got into her car and immediately locked the doors, taking a deep breath and driving off, determined to get her errands done.

* * *

Diana was walking out of the grocery store when her phone started ringing.

She had picked up a bunch of different foods that she liked and others she was hoping Lassiter liked. There were a few times at the station where she had heard him talking about different foods he liked. 

She was pushing the cart through the parking lot while she fished her phone out of her purse. 

“Brooks,” she said quickly.

“Brooks, it’s Lassiter,” his voice sounded exhausted on the other side of the phone. It had been a long day for him, she was guessing. It was already 6:30 PM, he had left her apartment somewhere around 8:00 AM.

“Hi Lassiter! I’m leaving the grocery store now! I picked up a few things we could make for dinner tonight and some other foods,” Diana said with a chipper tone. 

She had the phone between her shoulder and her head. She was looking for her keys in her purse while pushing the shopping cart towards her car.

Needless to say, she was jumbling a lot of items. 

“Yeah, I realized you were gone when I couldn’t get inside the apartment,” Lassiter groaned on the other side of the phone.

Diana gasped and then let out a quick giggle, she couldn’t help but laugh. She locked him out! 

“I’m so sorry, Carlton! I’ll be home soon, I’m at the Ralphs on Carillo Street, I’m only a few minutes away,” Diana got to her car and finally pulled out her keys, she popped the trunk and started putting the bags away.

“I guess I should’ve asked for a spare before leaving the apartment,” he mumbled.

“Well, detective, you could always kick in the door,” Diana giggled, closing the trunk.

“Don’t even tempt me, Brooks. It’s been a long day,” Lassiter grumbled. She could practically see the look on his face as she talked to him over the phone. 

Diana unlocked the door and got into the driver's seat, locking the door as soon as she got inside. She was holding the phone to her ear, looking through the windshield when all of a sudden, she saw something move in her rearview mirror.

“What the-” Diana yelled before she was cut off, what felt like a rag or cloth was wrapped around her neck, holding her head to the headrest.

“How was your shopping trip, Detective?” that same low voice from yesterday growled behind her. Holy shit, he was in her car!

The _one_ time she forgot to check the backseat first, son of a bitch!

“Brooks?! Brooks! What’s happening? Are you alright?” Lassiter’s voice was yelling over the phone. Her hand was trapped next to her head thanks to the cloth around her neck. 

“Lassiter?! Lassiter! He’s in my car, he has me trapped, help, please Lassiter!” She was hysterically screaming into the phone before it was yanked out of her hand and thrown onto the passenger seat.

“BROOKS! Brooks stay with me!” She heard Lassiter’s voice screaming on the other line. Her heart rate was picking up drastically.

“Now, I have to say, I wasn’t expecting that,” the voice was so close to her ear. When she looked in the rearview mirror, she couldn’t see anything, it was aimed high. 

“Well, I wasn’t exactly expecting a murderer in my car either,” she snapped back at him.

The voice behind her made a ‘tsk’ noise, then the cloth around her neck tightened, she winced at the pain. It was getting harder to breathe.

“Such a smart mouth on you, Diana,” he said smoothly. His voice was so low and grumbly, it sounded like he was talking from his chest. 

“Someone is going to see us eventually, bastard,” Diana forced out, she was clawing at the cloth with her one free hand.

“Yes, I thought that through, you see,” he laughed, then another cloth over her mouth. "I can't have people catching me, little rabbit,"

_ Chloroform!  _

Diana’s world started to fade to black, but the entire time she could still hear Lassiter screaming for her on her phone. HIs voice started to get farther and farther away, then she was gone.

* * *

The first thing Diana felt when she woke up was the dirt under her face. She was laying on her side, she was outside. 

_ Why am I outside? _

Questions began firing through her brain, then it clicked into place. She remembered the murderer in her backseat. The bastard knocked her out while she was in the parking lot.

Now she was in the woods. 

Diana slowly opened her eyes, her entire body felt so cold, it was almost numb. When she breathed out, Diana could see her breath..

There was nothing around her that she recognized, just tall trees and bushes everywhere she looked. Diana slowly sat up, taking in her surroundings.

_ Why did he bring me here? _

These woods did feel familiar. Were these the same woods that they found the first victim, Maddison Harris? Is this what he did to her, brought her out into the woods to kill her?

Diana’s blood ran cold at the thought. Did he bring her out here to kill her? Her heart rate started to pick up, she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. 

The detective stood up quickly, looking around. There had to be a way out of here, right? Diana started patting down her body, realizing she didn’t have her gun or anything. She didn’t have her phone or her keys or her purse. 

A twig snapped behind her and she whirled around, eyes searching the woods for any movement. Fear took over her body and she started running in the opposite direction as fast as she could. 

The cold air was whizzing past her, her feet were so cold in her shoes that her toes were throbbing. She couldn’t stop running. Diana didn’t even know if she was running in the right direction. Fight or flight kicked in, and her body chose flight. 

Trees were flying past her as Diana sprinted through the woods, turning at certain points to try and get away from the predator.

She slowed for a moment, listening to see if anything truly was following her, for all she knew, it was just an animal that had walked near her. 

The moment she started running, a loud thunk rang in the tree next to her head. This was deja vu, it was the same crossbow bolt that rained upon the police at the scene of the crime.

He brought her here to die. 

Diana hesitated for too long, more crossbow bolts began whizzing past her head. 

She took off running once again, this time more frantically. Arrows were flying past her at every single angle. Some of them nicking her skin and ripping at her clothes. She had so many small cuts all over her skin, they felt like extreme papercuts. 

The woods didn’t seem to be changing, they weren’t thinning, there wasn’t even a trail to run to. Diana was starting to panic and think she was never going to get out of here.

There was no way out.

Diana had no idea where she was.

No one knew where Diana was. 

No one was coming to find her. 

She was going to die out here. Her first case. 

There was a fallen tree coming up and she took a deep breath before jumping over it. Her athleticism failed her, her foot caught and she tumbled right over the giant tree. Diana’s body hitting the ground with a loud thud.

She let out a loud gasp and clutched at her shoulder, she had landed right on it.

There were so many cuts all over her body, they all stung so bad. Diana tried to get back to her feet but one cross bolt shot directly into her thigh.

Diana screamed out in pain, clutching at her thigh. 

She had to get out of here, please, let her escape this hell. Diana struggled to her feet, her thigh burning and bleeding out quickly. Maybe she just needed to hide somewhere. 

When she was running, she wasn’t as fast as before. She was limping, dragging her injured leg with her.

Another whizzing sound and a bolt dug into her left shoulder from the back

The detective let out another scream, clutching at her shoulder. She could feel blood starring to seep through her clothes.

Then, before she could even process it, she was falling down a steep slope, her body tumbling like a ragdoll over several different rocks and logs. She was careening downwards and every time her body hit something, it created a new cut or bruise.    
  
Diana’s head slammed into a rock and she saw stars for a moment, it felt like her brain was rattled in her skull.

When her body stopped falling, it took her a few seconds to be able to focus her vision, she was seeing double for a second. By the time her eyes started to focus, she could make out a small divot in the root of a tree. 

Diana crawled over to the small hole and curled her body up inside of it, effectively hiding herself from whatever was pursuing her.

After a few moments she heard noises in the trees above her. It sounded like multiple people, or  _ things,  _ jumping from branch to branch like monkeys.

They stopped for a moment and she held her breath, praying that they couldn’t see her. Then, she saw figures jumping through the branches, going away from her. There were so many figures, it looked like there could have been at least ten to twenty of them. 

Were they the people that were shooting at her?

Exhaustion was filling Diana’s body from the blood loss. She was going to die here, alone, in the woods. 

No one was going to find her body either.

Tears started welling up in her eyes as she curled into herself, covering her ears with her hands. Diana’s body was in so much pain from all the wounds, the bolt was still sticking out of her thigh, she knew if she ripped it out, it would make the bleeding that much worse.

Lassiter would scold her if she took it out. 

She choked out a sob thinking about Lassiter. He was probably on the warpath looking for her. Probably calling in the national guard to try and get to her.

How was he ever going to find her?

She was never going to get to be a real detective, she couldn’t even get through her first case without becoming a victim. 

Diana held her hands over her ears even tighter, she was so cold. Her fingertips were throbbing. Body heat was getting too low, too much blood loss. 

All of a sudden, Diana felt the ground almost thumping, like footsteps running towards her.

This was it, one of them found her, they were here to finish the job. Diana couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her face, she was letting out quiet sobs as she felt her doom running towards her. 

The thuds were getting closer and closer. She squeezed her eyes shut and kept her hands clamped over her ears, she didn’t want to see it coming.

Diana was not expecting to feel hands gently grasp her wrists.

A scream escaped her throat as her eyes flew open, she was met with dazzling baby blue ones that held the most mortified and worried expression she’s ever seen. 

"Diana!" the voice yelled out, she knew that voice!

“Lassiter,” she mumbled out. The blood loss was affecting her speech, her words were coming out slurred, like she was drunk.

Lassiter stared at her, terrified. She couldn’t even imagine what she must look like, she might as well have been a corpse. 

“Diana, oh my god, Diana,” he said, taking in all her wounds, his eyes looking at each cut and bruise, then they finally landed on the crossbow bolt sticking out of her thigh.

“Didn’t take out…” she mumbled, “knew bad idea.. So cold..”

Lassiter quickly shrugged off his jacket, he began to wrap her in it like a cocoon, when his hand reached her shoulder she let out a yelp as he hit the other crossbow bolt.

“Sweet justice, Diana, you’re going to be okay, I’m going to get you out of here, okay? Just keep your eyes open, don’t fall asleep on me, do you hear me, Diana? Don’t fall asleep, we just need to get you back to the search party.” Lassiter was commanding her, even when she was dying. 

Lassiter finished wrapping her in his jacket when he gently picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other behind her shoulders, being careful as to not touch the one wound.

The senior detective was running as fast as he could. Diana snuggled into his jacket, taking in the wonderful warmth that now enveloped her. 

The other wonderful thing was the smell, it was the same smell as this morning. A fresh pine and lavender scent. It was such a comforting feeling after what she’s been through.

Diana’s head fell against his chest, leaning into the comfort he was providing. His heart beat was pounding against her ear, lulling her to sleep. 

Her eyelids felt so heavy.

“Brooks! Don’t fall asleep, we’re almost back, okay? Don’t fall asleep on me, not now!” He started to shake her a bit, jolting her eyes open.

When she looked up at him, his eyes were flickering from her to look up at where he was running, then back down to her. He had to make sure she wasn’t falling asleep.

“So warm,” she mumbled quietly. Holding the jacket tighter against her.

Lassiter ran for a few minutes more, shaking Diana every so often to make sure she was awake. 

Diana saw flashing lights out of the corner of her eye and Lassiter started yelling for medical attention.

Several heads snapped up and came running towards her.

Before she knew it, Diana was being placed gingerly onto a stretcher. She let out a yelp as they had her lay on the one bolt still sticking out of her shoulder.

“We’re going to pull this out, Detective, okay?” a paramedic asked from behind her.

Voices were jumbled and her vision was fading. Nothing made sense, she thinks she nodded her head, but regardless, there was a sharp sting on her shoulder and she yelled in pain.

Her body was laid down again and she saw several blurry faces before everything started fading.

“Diana? Diana stay with us? Diana? Diana!”    


Finally, sleep took her. 


	7. Back On Your Feet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana wakes up in the hospital after her injuries.

The first thing Diana heard was a steady beeping, her brain woke up, but for some reason her eyes wouldn’t open. She could hear everything around her, feel everything.

Her entire body felt like it was floating. The young detective knew this feeling. Pain medication. Diana has had a few surgeries in her life, she knew the feeling of waking up after surgery. All of her muscles felt like jelly.

How did she get here?

The events of the woods flashed through her head. She was alive? She had no idea how she was alive right now. 

_ Lassiter. _

The image of his concerned face stuck out in her mind. His face was absolutely mortified when he saw her body mutilated against that tree. She had seen true fear in his eyes while he stared at her bloody limbs.

Even when he was sprinting back to camp, his arms were trembling. It wasn't like him. 

Diana was trying with all of her might to wake up and open her eyes, but none of her muscles would cooperate. As her brain was waking up, she was able to pick up on voices inside the room. 

“She shouldn’t have been left alone in the first place!” a male voice whispered angrily.

“She wasn’t supposed to leave the apartment,” another voice whispered back with just as much anger.

“Guys, come on, she’s safe now,” a third voice hushed. 

“You left her alone and look what happened to her, you’re lucky she’s alive, Lassiter,”

_ Lassiter. _

Someone was yelling at Lassiter? She knew those other two voices, who were they? Why won’t her eyelids work?

“I thought she would be fine, she was locked in the house, I had squad cars patrolling the area!” Lassiter’s voice was getting louder and angrier.

Diana heard what sounded like a door opening, then another voice, a female one. “Is she awake?” the voice asked quietly. _ Juliet.  _ The female voice was Juliet. Who were the other two male voices with Lassiter?

“No, she might be asleep for a while, the doctors have her on some pretty heavy stuff like benzodiazepine to help with muscle spasms and keep her asleep,”

_ Gus. _

If Gus was in the room, then the other voice had to be Shawn. So in her hospital room was Lassiter, Shawn, Gus, and Juliet. So, basically, half of her department was here.

“What even happened, Lassiter?” Shawn said rather seriously.

“I was on the phone with her, she had locked me out of the apartment, because like I said, I  _ didn’t think she would leave _ ,” Lassiter snipped, “I could hear her getting in her car and then she sounded startled, next thing I knew she was screaming and her phone was thrown onto the floor, but he hadn’t hung up. I heard her yell at him and then her voice was muffled, he must have chloroformed her.”

As Lassiter talked about his end of the events, her side came into her head again. Being in that car felt like months ago. How long had she been asleep? It sounds like they’re just waiting for her to wake up.

“I never hung up with her, I kicked down her apartment door to get inside, I had to, and it’s already fixed, before you even ask. Diana had a house phone in there and I used it to call the station for the search party. The bastard drove her car to the same woods we found the first victim in. Which reminds me, we need to constantly have uniforms out in those woods scouting for possibly victims. He left the call on, we were able to track her phone back to her car in the woods. From there I just kept… running, trying to find her.” Lassiter’s voice quieted down and cracked.

What was that like for him? Finding Diana bloody in the woods. What does she even look like? There were so many crossbow bolts flying when she was running that it cut her everywhere on her body. 

“You shouldn’t leave her goddamn side until this guy is in jail, Lassiter.” Shawn whispered angrily.

Diana and Shawn had gotten pretty close over the past week. Since Juliet was undercover, he chose Diana to spend his time with at the precinct. 

They fell into a habit of teasing each other and throwing sarcastic comments around. Once or twice he even had brought her an extra portion of his and Gus’ afternoon snack. They had an easy friendship within a week, which is not something she could say about other people. 

Shawn was working so closely with her on the Trailside Butcher case, much to Lassiter’s dismay. He could be pretty helpful when figuring things out, but he did have a tendency to keep her in the dark until he found out new information himself. 

“You think I don’t know that now, Spencer? What am I supposed to do now? My partner is undercover, and my temporary partner is now hospitalized and we have no idea when she’ll wake up. I am a detective, god dammit, what would you like me to do? I can’t solve the case from inside this room!” Lassiter’s voice was getting angrier by the second.

“You could at least stay here until she wakes up," Juliet suggested, “She’ll probably have some information for us when she’s awake. Only she knows what happened in the woods,”

“That’s true, just stay here, Lassiter, she should be awake soon,” Gus added, his voice was next to her bed, probably looking at her IV and the drugs she was being pumped full of.

“Fine, I’ll stay here,” Lassiter quipped.

“We’ll go and see what they found in the woods, okay?” Juliet asked. Diana heard Lassiter grunt in response.

The door opened and shut after footsteps left. Diana heard Lassiter let out a deep sigh and stand still for a few moments before he walked over to her right, and it sounded like he sat down in a chair.

Diana heard the chair scoot closer to the side of her bed, a few more moments of silence, and then he spoke up.

“I’m sorry, Diana. Okay? I shouldn’t have left you by yourself, especially after I knew the bastard was targeting us specifically. I should have been there to protect you,” the head detective whispered. He was so quiet she almost couldn’t hear him.

All she wanted to do was shout ‘its not your fault!’ It wasn’t! How is this his fault? She could protect herself, she didn’t need anyone to protect her from anything. He’s beating himself up over something that he shouldn’t be.

Diana felt a gentle hand grasp her right one, holding it carefully. His hand was so nice and warm. For someone who shot his gun in the range daily, his hands were so soft. 

“Just wake up, okay? So we can catch this bastard and solve a normal crime, like a burglary or something. On the bright side, every case after this one is going to feel like a walk in the park, right, Diana?” Lassiter paused, almost hopeful that she would respond. When she didn’t, he squeezed her hand.

She was expecting him to let go after that, but he kept a firm grip on her. 

The mixture of silence in the room and the drugs coursing through her veins pulled her into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

This time when Diana started to wake up, she was able to open her eyes. The blinding whiteness of the hospital room made it hard to keep them open for anything longer than a second or two.

After a few moments of her eyes adjusting, Diana was able to look around the room. It was a normal hospital room, on her left was a bedside table that had a few plants and a teddy bear on it. The teddy bear was holding a pineapple.  _ Shawn _ . 

Slowly, Diana turned her head to her right.

The head detective of the Santa Barbara Police Department sat on a chair facing the bed. His arms and head were leaning on the covers next to her, he must have fallen asleep waiting for her to wake up.

That familiar weight was still in her hand. Lassiter fell asleep holding her hand. A small smile cracked across her face. Looks like he cares more about her than she originally thought.

Her muscles finally obeyed her and she squeezed his hand gently.

Lassiter let out a tired grunt and his eyes started opening. As soon as he realized what had happened and where he was, his head snapped up to look at her.

Baby blue eyes met forest green ones again.

“Brooks! You’re awake! How are you feeling?” he asked, his hand snatched away from hers, brushing the wrinkles out of his dress shirt. 

His tie was loose around his neck and his jacket draped over the back of the chair. It looked like he hadn’t slept in days. 

Diana swallowed dryly, her throat a bit sore.

“I’ve definitely been better, have to say,” she smiled at Lassiter weakly. He ran his hands through his hair and let out a sigh of relief, leaning back against the back of the chair.

“What happened, Diana? You… I thought you were going to die in my arms, alright?” 

This man’s coping mechanism was obviously anger. She knew that he was just upset and was directing it at her, he was scared.

“I’m sorry I scared you, Lassiter.” Diana frowned and offered him a sorrowful look. “I don’t know what happened fully. I woke up in the middle of the woods, I don’t even know how long I was there,” she started, telling him exactly what she saw in the woods. 

He stared at her, listening intently. When she mentioned the first arrow hitting her in the thigh, his eyes snapped down to her leg, which had a blanket over it.

“There were bolts flying everywhere, Carlton. I don’t know how I made it out alive. When you found me, I thought it was someone coming to finish me off.” Diana stared down at the blanket across her body.    


The wounds were throbbing dully, the medicine making it bearable. 

Lassiter stood up from the chair, running his hand through his hair again, this time even more anxiously. He paced back and forth at the foot of her bed.

“Carlton,” Diana spoke up and his head turned to look at her. “What did the doctor say?” 

He stood at the end of the bed, looking at her, his hands on his hips.

“Multiple lacerations, some deeper than others. Your shoulder was dislocated. Your ankle is sprained. The bolt that went into your back ripped the muscles that were back there. And the one that went into your thigh sliced the artery in your leg.”

Diana looked down from his gaze at the bed, then she looked back up at the detective that was still standing there, staring at her.

“I’m sorry you had to find me like that, Carlton,” she whispered, clenching the blankets in her hands.

Lassiter’s brow furrowed and he stared at her, a little shocked. He walked back over to the side of the bed and sat down on the chair, never taking his eyes off her.

“You don’t have to apologize, Diana. I’m just glad I found you before it was too late,” he said gentle, awkwardly reaching out and grabbing the top of her hand. 

Diana looked at his hand and then up at him, offering a small smile. Lassiter took his hand back and reached into his pocket, taking out his phone.

“I’m going to step out for a moment, Brooks. I want to tell the chief you’re awake,” he said, back to his usual gruffness. Diana nodded and looked at the tv on the wall facing her bed. 

Lassiter stepped out of the room and she grabbed the remote, unmuting the tv that was playing the news.

“The Trailside Butcher continues to wreak havoc on the city of Santa Barbara. He upped his game just two days ago when he kidnapped one of Santa Barbara’s detectives, Diana Brooks,” a picture of Diana flashed up on the screen, “Detective Brooks was taken from her own vehicle but was luckily found in the Los Padres National Forest by head detective, Carlton Lassiter. We would like to remind our citizens to stay vigilant, and always check their cars before entering,”

A picture of Lassiter was put on the screen next to her as the reporter kept talking. Diana then noticed that she was standing outside in front of what looked like the hospitals. There were even several other reporters around her.

Was this a popular thing? Or was it just because this was a high profile case.

Diana sat up slowly in bed, being careful not to irritate any of her wounds. She looked at the window in her room, she was on a pretty high up floor, she couldn’t see the ground. 

Her legs swung over the side of the bed very slowly. That’s when she was able to see the thick bandage wrapped around her thigh and the other smaller bandages covering almost every inch of her skin.

She was going to have to buy a very expensive lotion to make sure those don’t scar.

Diana’s eyes roamed over the bandaged skin. She should’ve been more careful. But she didn’t think that he would try and kidnap her out of her own car! Diana also didn’t think she would have to be glued to Lassiter’s hip in order to survive.

“But I’m glad it was me, not him,” Diana whispered to herself, tearing her eyes away from the wounds and back to the window.

Testing the waters, she placed her feet on the floor and started to stand up. There was a definite pressure on the wound, but no pain. 

She was brought here two days ago, which means her wound was stitched up and has been healing since then. A little bit of walking won’t kill her… hopefully.

Grabbing her IV stand, she began to walk over towards the window. Each step was extremely wobbly and she would’ve lost her balance without the pole she was leaning onto.

When she got to the window, she looked outside and sure enough, there were at least seven or eight news vans with about 30 reporters outside. Some talking into cameras, others talking to each other, taking down notes.

Diana watched as one reporter tried to flag down a nurse as she walked outside, probably going on her break or going home. The nurse kept trying to wave them off and eventually got away.

This definitely had to be because it was a high profile case. People were already scared, but now since an officer was injured and taken, citizens were getting more and more paranoid. 

“Rightfully so,” Diana muttered, staring at the people below. She couldn’t even keep herself safe, how was she going to solve this case without getting her or Lassiter killed?

The door opened behind her and she heard a small choking sound.

“Brooks! What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get back in bed!” Lassiter growled out and marched over to her.

This man looks like he hasn’t left the hospital since she got here. There were deep bags under her eyes and his face showed a five o’clock shadow.

Diana looked at him, then back down to the reporters standing below.

“I’m surprised they haven’t beat down the door trying to ask you questions,” she mumbled weakly.

Lassiter let out a sigh and looked outside, “Yeah, well, don’t think they haven’t tried. Damn vultures somehow knew what happened before you were even out of surgery,”

As the pair of detectives watched, another news van pulled in, more reporters getting out to set up shop.

“I don’t get it, officers are injured in the line of duty all the time, why the news coverage?” the younger detective asked, not taking her eyes off them.

“Yeah, but not many detectives are kidnapped from their car and put into a murder trap in the woods,” Lassiter grumbled, turning his attention back to her, “Speaking of, get the hell back in bed, Brooks” he barked out.

Diana let out a sigh and turned to face him, knowing he was more stubborn than her, and that’s a hard feat. She trudged back to the bed slowly and sat down on the edge. Lassiter's eyes were following her carefully as she walked, staying half a step behind her just in case she was to fall.

“It doesn’t hurt,” she said, trying to reassure him.

“You’re on drugs,” he snapped back quickly.

“This wasn’t the first time I’ve been injured, Lassiter, and it certainly won't be the last,” she tried to offer him a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. 

Lassiter grunted in response and walked back over to the window, staring outside. His brows furrowed and he looked at them with pure anger.

There were a few moments of silence, the only sound was the TV. The reporter was no longer on the screen, just a weatherman. Diana was relieved that they weren’t talking about her anymore.

“Lassiter, have you gone home yet?” the blonde asked softly, watching him carefully. His eyes never left the pool of reporters outside.

“No,” he answered quickly.

“I’m awake now, go home and rest. Maybe clean up a little,” she teased him.

Blue eyes flickered to her quickly, then he looked down at himself. He was a bit worse for wear.

“You can come back tomorrow,” Diana added, “I’ll still be here.”

“Lay down properly,” he mumbled, walking over to the bed, she was still sitting on the edge.

Diana nodded and slowly swung her legs back up on the bed, her muscles sore and tired. As she was fumbling with the blanket, pulling it over her legs, Lassiter started to fix the pillows behind her, making it more comfortable. 

She ended up sitting up against the pillows. Lassiter fussed over her a bit, pouring her a glass of water to keep next to her bed, putting the remote closer to her.

“Do you want the blinds open or closed?” he asked, pointing to the window.

Diana couldn’t help but laugh a little, her smile genuine this time, “You can close them, mom,” she teased.

Lassiter rolled his eyes and closed the blinds, but not before glaring at the reporters one last time.

“I’ll be okay, Lassiter, the nurses are one button click away,” she reassured him. 

The blue eyed detective walked closer to the bed, he very obviously didn’t want to leave, but he knew that she was right. He needed rest, well, and a shower. 

He leaned over her, adjusting the pillows again. He was so close to her, just like the other morning when he pulled the blanket over her on the couch.

Warmth was coming off him, it was so comforting and a nice contrast to the cold hospital room they were in. As he was moving the pillows around, his arms kept brushing against her. It didn’t seem to phase him, but her skin tingled wherever he last touched. 

Those blue eyes were so focused on what he was doing, that he didn’t see her staring at him, her green eyes memorizing the lines of his face.

Damn, he was handsome. Even after being in a hospital room for two days straight. That just wasn’t fair.

“Carlton,” she said, catching his attention. He looked up at her, still leaning over. His face close to hers.

Reaching up slowly, she held his cheek gently with the hand that didn’t have the IV in it. He seemed shocked at her touch, but he didn’t recoil.

Diana leaned forward and softly placed a kiss on his cheek. Her lips lingered on his skin for a moment. Under her hand she could even feel his face begin to heat up.

She pulled away slowly, letting her hand fall down to the bed. Lassiter backed away a little and stared at her face, non-verbally asking why she did that.

“Thank you,” she smiled, “I wouldn’t be here without you,” her voice was a whisper that only he could hear.

Lassiter blinked a few times, his gorgeous blue eyes staring at her face. Diana could see the pink on his cheeks was not going away.

Something clicked in his brain and he quickly stood up straight, clearing his throat and straightening his tie.

“Yes, well, you’re welcome. I was just doing my job, Brooks,” he said quickly, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair, “I’ll be back in a few hours, okay?” he asked, shrugging it on.

Diana nodded and smiled at him, which he returned, but it was so slight she almost didn’t notice it.

Lassiter was halfway out the door when she spoke up, “Hey, who are these gifts from?” she asked, motioning to the several bouquets of flowers and stuffed animals.

“Different people, not sure, they just kept showing up. Call me if you need anything, Brooks.” Lassiter grumbled before finally leaving.

There was a small window in the door that Diana could see through after he left.    
  
The detective stood in the hallway for a moment, and she watched as his hand reached up and touched the cheek where she had kissed him. Then, he walked away and the room was silent again.

Diana looked over at the table of gifts and took the card off of one rather large bouquets of flowers. Maybe from her parents? They would be a wreck if they knew what happened to her.

Her eyes widened as she read the small card that was attached.

‘ _ Next time won’t be so easy, little rabbit. Get well soon xoxo _ ’


	8. Connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana is discharged from the hospital. Then, the pair of detectives follow up on a new lead.

Carlton Lassiter walked down the hallway of the hospital, a stack of files was tucked under his right arm, a cup of coffee in either hand. His dress shoes clicking on the clean floor.

This was torture to him, having to bring work here to the hospital, he had to haul everything from the precinct to the hospital every single day since Diana was admitted. Lassiter really didn’t mind as much as he was leading everyone to believe.

Well, everyone except Diana.

She had been in the hospital for a little over a week and was recovering quickly. The head detective acted like it was a huge fuss to go back and forth, but he rather enjoyed working with her. Diana was very intelligent and brought new ideas to the table. She looked at things from angles he never would even think about.

The pair hadn’t made that much progress on the Trailside Butcher case, but they worked to draw lines between this case and earlier unsolved cases.

Lassiter just wished that she was able to come with him when he followed up on leads, she would just sit in the hospital bed until he called her or came back with information or pictures.

He was still sleeping at her apartment, whenever he thought about going back to his, the only thing he could picture was the blood written on his living room wall. Diana had also insisted he stay there, she thought it was safer.

She would tell him, “Statistically speaking, your place has had more break-ins than mine, so my apartment is safer. Stay there,” Every time he would roll his eyes and huff out a snarky response. But then he would always go back to her apartment. 

When Lassiter reached the door to her room, he balanced the coffees on top of each other and opened the door carefully. When he looked over at her bed, Diana’s face lit up and she smiled.

“Lassiter! Great news!” she beamed at him. The older detective walked over and handed her the one coffee, she took it with a smile.

“You solved the case?” he asked sarcastically, putting the other coffee down and then the files next to it.

“No, but it will definitely help us with the case. I’m being discharged today,” her smile never wavered as she looked at the files he brought in.

A smile cracked over his face, but then it left when he watched her look at the files again. A sense of dread crept into his heart. If she was coming back, he would have to start worrying about her getting injured again.

Diana glanced up at him, her smile turning into a frown when she saw his reaction.

“What?” she asked, holding the coffee with both hands.

“Nothing, we just have a lot of work to do. I’m glad you’re coming back, I’ve had to do double the work load, covering for you,” Lassiter grumbled and pulled the chair closer to the bed.

Diana smiled to herself, she knew he didn’t mean that. They’ve worked too closely for the past few weeks for her not to know that Lassiter just didn’t want to admit anything. Deciding to let it go, Diana focused her attention on the coffee in her hands.

“Thank you for the coffee, Lassiter,” she said softly, looking at the side to see if she can figure out what kind of coffee he got her.

“No problem, decaf with hazelnut creamer, right?” he asked, picking his head up to look at her for confirmation. Diana’s small grin turned into a rather large smile.

“You remembered,” she said sweetly, taking a sip, it tasted perfect. Diana couldn’t believe he really remembered her coffee order. She also was surprised he brought her coffee at all.

“You mentioned yesterday about the coffee here being terrible, I get coffee in the morning anyway,” Lassiter mumbled as he sat down, pulling a file onto his lap.

Diana looked over at the file he was reading, picking up another one to look at.

“Any updates?” she asked, not looking up at him.

“Nothing yet, the files I brought over were more unsolved murder cases. All of the victims in these files were found in the Los Padres National Forest, where you and Maddison Harris were found.”

Diana nodded, reading over the details of the file in front of her. 

“Emily Cobb,” the young detective whispered, looking at the picture of the poor girl. She was 20 years old when she was murdered. They found her body in the woods almost a year ago, mutilated. They were only able to ID her by using dental records.

The victim was a college student. Diana stared at her picture, it was her yearbook photo. Emily had long brown hair and big brown eyes. Her smile was so sweet and genuine. She had a future ahead of her.

Diana’s brows furrowed together as she read over the file, her heart ached for this young girl and her lost future. She couldn’t imagine what that was even like for her family.

By looking at the pictures of the crime scene, pieces started to click into place, the connections were faint, but they were there. 

“Hey Lassiter, this girl’s body looks like what Maddison Harris looked like when we found her,” she leaned over and showed him the pictures. 

Lassiter looked up and over at the pictures, taking one out of her hand gently and looking at it, “Yeah, you’re right, we should reopen the case,”

“We should talk to her family again, get more information. Then let’s talk to Maddison Harris’ family. Have you interviewed them yet?” Diana asked, looking over more information. 

“No, I know some of the uniforms asked them basic questions but nothing in depth.” Lassiter answered, peering over at the file, reading it with her.

Once again the first thing she noticed was how good he smelled. So fresh, all she wanted to do was bury her face in his dress shirt and fall asleep.  A blush rose on Diana’s cheeks and she tried to focus on the file on her lap.

Another thought crossed her mind, she must’ve smelled awful compared to him. She’s been in the hospital for several days and she hasn’t had a proper shower. Sure, the nurses helped her clean off, but her hair was pulled into a messy bun.

She subtly leaned away from him, becoming a little self conscious. He didn’t seem to notice, Lassiter was just staring at the file. 

God, she just wanted a shower.

“Once I’m discharged, we should bring them in for questioning, or pay them a visit, either works.” Diana interrupted his reading.

Lassiter’s head snapped up to look at her, “I can just do it now, no need for waiting,” he said with a confused smirk.

“I haven’t done anything but send you to do things by yourself for a week. I’m going to be discharged any minute, I’ll just shower at home and we can both go,” she said, staring into his eyes.

Lassiter rolled his eyes and looked away from her, “I’m not going to wait hours for that,”

Anger was bubbling in Diana’s blood, she was trying to keep her temper in check, but he was making it a bit hard. He was one of the only people that had a temper that rivaled her own.

“Detective Lassiter, I am your partner and you can wait for me to come with you,” she said sternly.

“You are my temporary partner, and you cannot give me orders,” he said back at her, eyebrows furrowed. She could see the frustration on his face, and she could guess that hers looked similar. 

Diana opened her mouth and closed it a few times, wanting so badly to yell at him for being so impatient. But, he was right, she couldn’t give him orders, he was her senior officer. 

But she would be damned if she gave up that easily.

“Get the nurse in here, I’ll leave right now!” she said with determination, looking around for the remote control that has the call button. Diana placed her coffee on the table and started sitting up trying to leave.

“Diana! Stop being stubborn!” Lassiter snapped, standing up and placing a hand on her shoulder. He was trying to push her down to lay down in the bed.

Heat was coming off of his hand, she could feel it through the hospital gown she was wearing. She looked up at him and scoffed.

“ _ I’m _ being stubborn? You’re the one who won’t wait for your  _ temporary partner _ to leave the hospital so that she can help you with this case!” Diana yelled at him, pushing against his hand.

Lassiter grit his teeth and took his hand away, still staring down at her. When she reiterated the ‘temporary partner’ part, he seemed to recoil.

“I’m not going to wait when I could be out there solving this case!”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re very excited about solving this high profile case on your own, but it’s my first case and very important to me, if you haven’t noticed, so just sit down and wait for me to help! I’ve been sitting in this fucking room for so long I know every crack in the wall! Just let me do some fucking police work!” Tears were welling up in her eyes. Diana was beyond frustrated at this point.

Lassiter but his lip, stopping him from saying something. His hands clenched into fists at his side.

“Fine,” he spit out, “but if you’re not out of this room within an hour, I am leaving without you,” he said with venom in his voice, snatching the file off her bed and stepping outside the room. 

Why did he have to be just as stubborn as she is? Well, he was an Aries, she was a Taurus. It makes sense they would butt heads like this.

Diana sighed and looked around for the remote again, messing around at the covers in the bed. Her hand bumped the file and she picked it up again. She was about to throw it on the table, but she opened it again, looking inside.

The pictures of the crime scene fell onto her lap, she picked them up gingerly and stared at the photo of the body.

The victim, Emily Cobb, her body was severely mutilated, just like Maddison Harris’ was. The cuts in the body were so deep. Diana kept staring at the picture, there was something she was missing, she knew it.

Looking up, Diana reached over and grabbed Maddison Harris’ file from the stack that Lassiter had left on the table. 

Holding the pictures side by side, her eyes kept flickering back and forth between the two. Both bodies had slices in similar places. There were three large slices, one across the thighs, one across the abdomen, and one across the throat. The slice across the abdomen was the worst, the organs everywhere.

Diana’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked at it. She tore her eyes away from the two and looked down at the covers, letting out a frustrated sigh.

That was when the door opened and Lassiter walked back in, his face showed that he was still obviously annoyed with her. He was shoving his phone back into his pocket when he looked over at her.

“Did you call the nurse yet? I want her to check your injuries and make sure you won't hinder our progress by popping a stitch or something,” Lassiter said with a frown.

That’s when it clicked.

Diana gasped and picked up the pictures again, Lassiter looked at her with a confused expression and walked closer to the bed.

“What? Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes scanning over her.

“Look at these two pictures, Lassiter,” Diana held them up for him to see once he was standing next to the bed. His eyes looked at them, “What do you notice about them?” she asked him.

“They both have the same injuries?” he answered slowly, looking at her with a questioning look.

“Those slices are the only injuries they have. Look at my body, it’s covered in small slices and holes from the crossbow bolts, these two bodies, they only have the three slices.” Diana explained, pointing at the victim’s bodies. 

“What does that mean?” Lassiter asked, crossing his arms.

“That means they didn’t have to run from this guy, or whatever he might have working for him. There’s no way he’s working alone. I saw so many figures flying through the trees, there were too many bolts flying for it to just be one guy shooting them at me. He must have lured them there somehow, they probably trusted him. He got them there somehow,” she said, thinking out loud as she spoke. 

Lassiter thought for a moment, taking that in, “Well what if he kidnapped them, the way he kidnapped you. Obviously he’s not above waiting in a woman’s car to get her.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked over at her, pondering her words carefully.

“The chloroform would’ve come up in the toxicology report, wouldn’t it? I think we need to pay Woody a visit before we question Emily Cobb and Maddison Harris’ families.” Diana stated, then finally finding the remote and hitting the button to call the nurse. 

Lassiter said nothing, just picked up the file off her lap and nodded at her. Once the nurse came in, he left to give her privacy as she changed and got ready to leave.

* * *

Walking into the precinct felt so good. Diana was walking with her head held high. She felt so much better after she took a nice hot shower back at her apartment. Lassiter had waited for her and only complained once.

He didn’t seem to be annoyed with her anymore. She guessed he was more of a type to not discuss an argument after it happened, by being nice to her again, she considered it his own type of apology, and that was fine with her. Diana wasn’t the confrontational type either. 

Once she turned the corner by the desk where Buzz sat, she was immediately brought into a hug.

“Diana! We’ve been so worried about you!” Shawn’s voice was filling her ears as he held her tight. “Gus hasn’t slept in over a month,”    


The young detective let out a laugh, “I’ve only been in the hospital for a week, Shawn,” she looked at his face once he let go of her, keeping his hands on her shoulders, holding her at arm’s lengths.

“Was it really only a week? I’ve been watching Ugly Betty nonstop, it felt like a month,” he muttered and looked over at Lassiter, who was hovering behind Diana very closely. “Lassie! I have to say, I am going to miss you not being here, we were about to move your desk to Diana’s hospital room,” he said sarcastically.

“Very funny, Spencer,” Lassie said with an equal amount of sarcasm. 

Lassiter put a hand on Diana’s shoulder and gently led her away, towards his desk. His hand was warm and she could feel it through her dress shirt. A warm electric feeling shot through her stomach.

Shawn made a surprised noise and looked after them. Diana’s eyes flickered over to Juliet, who was standing next to Gus. Juliet gave her a warm, happy smile as she waved hello. Diana waved back and continued walking with Lassiter’s lead to his desk.

When the pair of detectives got to his corner desk, he dumped the files onto the surface. Grabbing the Maddison Harris and Emily Cobb ones from the mess. He thumbed through Emily Cobb’s before looking up at Diana.

“Let’s go visit Woody,” he said quickly, then motioned for them to start walking.

“Soooo… any breakthroughs?” Shawn interrupted once again, coming up from behind Diana. She turned to face Shawn.

“Actually we’re about to go pay Woody a visit. We need to see if either victim had chloroform in their systems,” she replied and then looked over at Lassiter. He was looking at Shawn with an annoyed look.

“You’re more than welcome to leave, Spencer, I can even walk you to the door,” Lassiter said, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Or I can come down with you and hear what Woody has to say, that sounds fun, let’s do it! Road trip together!” Shawn said happily and hooked his arm with Diana’s leading her away from the blue eyed detective. 

Diana heard Lassiter make a frustrated groan before following behind them. 

The trio walked down into the morgue, Diana’s arm linked with Shawn’s the entire time. When they walked inside, Woody was standing over a dead body, one hand searching through the internal organs, the other was holding a smoothie.

The coroner looked up and smiled as they all came into view. “Shawn! Detective Lassiter! And new lady who I have yet to meet, how are you?”

“Oh, Woody, creepy as ever,” Shawn smiled and unlinked their arms, “this is Detective Brooks, she’s Lassie’s temporary partner,” he said, motioning to her as if she was an item on The Price Is Right. 

“Nice to meet you, Woody, sorry I haven’t been down sooner,” she was about to reach her hand out for a shake and then saw his situation, but then she stopped.

“Nice to meet you too, Detective Brooks. Now, what brings you three to my cozy nook?” Woody asked, taking a sip of his smoothie and removing his hand from the body’s stomach. 

“We need the toxicology report on Emily Cobb and on Maddison Harris,” Lassiter said, stepping closer to Woody, looking at the body he was examining.

“Oh yeah, sure,” Woody looked around and put the smoothie on the table, taking the blood covered glove off and throwing it away.

“Was there a proper toxicology study done on them?” Diana asked, looking around the morgue.

“We did a basic one,” Woody answered, thumbing through a file cabinet. 

“Does chloroform show up on a basic tox report?” Diana asked him, watching Shawn who was looking at different beakers full of liquid.

“Typically, yes, chloroform does show up in an autopsy, and I don’t remember seeing it in either of those victims,” he finally pulled out two files, handing them to Lassiter.

Diana walked over next to Lassiter and looked at the pieces of paper he was holding.

“Does it show chloroform?” he asked, looking up from the paper and at Woody. The coroner looked down at the paper.

“No, no chloroform found in the system, no drugs or alcohol either. They were perfectly healthy. Both bodies showed no sign of struggle either.” Woody explained.

“You would think that someone who was about to get sliced into pieces would show a bit of struggle,” the young detective thought out loud, reading over the toxicology report.

“The only thing was bruises across the hip bones and shoulders and collarbones, almost like they were restrained with straps across the hips and shoulders,” he was pointing to the diagram of her injuries.

“They were tied down to something,” Lassiter said, tucking the tox reports into the files, “I’ll make copies of these and bring them back down to you, Woody, thank you for your help,” he looked over at Diana and they both nodded, communicating silently.

“Aw, look at that, they’re getting so close,” Shawn said with puppy dog eyes.

“I’ve only seen things like that in my Hallmark movies,” Woody said dreamily, picking up his smoothie again.

Lassiter glared at the two before walking out of the morgue, Diana following closely behind. Then coming up to walk next to him.

“So they weren’t drugged, they would have had to know their attacker, trust whoever did this to them,” Diana stated, her mind reeling. 

“Also this bastard definitely isn’t working alone,” Lassiter said as they rounded the corner to his desk.

“That’s true, there were so many figures jumping around the branches in the woods. We saw them the day we found Maddison Harris’ body too. He has to be a leader of some sort,” she said, watching Lassiter look through the stacks of papers.

“I’m going to contact both Maddison Harris’ and Emily Cobb’s families to be brought in for interviews,” Lassiter said, walking over to the main desk in the station, “Stay here,’ he commanded, leaving her there.

Diana stood at his desk for a moment, pushing around the files, looking at others laying there. It was getting so frustrating, dealing with this bastard and his army of tree people.

“Detective Brooks,” a voice called over to her, she saw Henry Spencer sitting at Juliet’s desk, a mug of coffee in his hand, “It’s good to see you back here,” he said with a smile.

She smiled back at him and walked over to his temporary desk, “You know you could have moved back to your desk, it is yours after all. I was gone for a week,” she laughed.

“Yeah, I could have, but I had already moved my favorite desk toy over here, no sense in moving it,” he motioned over to a small Newton’s cradle. It also had a small lego police officer standing there.

“I didn’t know you were a big lego fan,” she smirked, picking it up.

“He is not, that’s mine,” Shawn’s voice came from behind her, and his hand snatched the toy out of her grasp faster than she could process. Henry laughed and Gus walked over to the both of them.

“Shawn, is that the Lego police officer from my Lego classic 6384 set from 1983 that you said you had no idea where it went?” Gus asked, furrowing his eyebrows, his eyes never left the small piece in his hands.

Gus reached for the piece quickly and Shawn pulled away, keeping it away from him. The pair continued to do this for a few minutes before Henry stood up and separated them. 

“Stop being ridiculous, you two,” the retired cop said while pushing them apart.

After a moment of silence, the two stared at each other and Gus quickly swiped it out of Shawn’s hands, holding it close to his chest and putting it in the breast pocket of his dress shirt.

“What? Do you worship the thing or something?” Shawn asked sarcastically.

Diana stood there for a moment, laughing at the pair going back and forth. They really fought like small children. 

“Lego sets are sacred, Shawn, you of all people should know that,” Gus stated angrily.

“I just think you need to let it go,” Shawn said, “Now you’ve stolen a desk toy from my dad and he’s going to fall into a deep depression,”

Henry rolled his eyes and sat back down in the desk chair, grumbling something about Shawn being a child. Diana chuckled and turned to see Lassiter walking over to the group.

“Okay, the families of both Maddison Harris and Emily Cobb will be here within the hour,” he said, looking at Diana. She nodded and he walked back to his desk. She watched him walk back to his desk, eyes lingering on the tall detective.

“What are you guys going to ask the families?” Gus asked Diana. Her eyes flickered over to Gus, meeting his gaze.

“We’ve come to a conclusion that both Maddison Harris and Emily Cobb would’ve had to have known their attacker,” she explained.

“Who is Emily Cobb?” Shawn asked, pulling a Crunch Bar out of his back pocket.

“Emily Cobb is an unsolved murder from almost a year ago. They found her body in the Los Padres National Forest, just like Maddison Harris. Her injuries were very similar to Maddison’s as well. Maybe we can try and find a tie between the two,” the young detective explained, watching Shawn as he munched on his snack.

Gus nodded and looked over at Shawn, doing a double take when he saw him eating the chocolate bar. 

“Shawn!” he said quickly.

“Gus! I haven’t eaten in over an hour, I am withering away,” Shawn whined. Gus stared at him but then nodded.

“I am rather hungry,” he said smoothly, “You hungry, Diana? We can bring you back something,”

“Sure, surprise me. Everything you guys get is usually delicious.” she offered them a smile, “Let me get my wallet so I can pay for it,” Diana began walking over towards her desk.

“Don’t worry about it!” Gus smiled, Shawn was already walking out the door, “Think of it as a welcome back present,” he grabbed her arm gently and gave it a squeeze before leaving.

Diana watched the pair leave and walked back over to her desk, getting ready for the families to arrive. 

* * *

Both Diana and Lassiter stood outside the one interrogation room. They were looking at the parents of Emily Cobb, her brother was also sitting at the table. Her murder was a year ago but they still looked so depressed. Losing a child couldn’t be an easy thing, those wounds probably never heal.

Her brother looked like he was maybe 16 years old. What is that like? Losing a sibling so early in life.

“Ready?” Lassiter’s voice broke the silence. It was gentle and quiet, they both knew this wasn’t going to be easy. 

“Yeah, do you want to take the lead or should I?” she asked, looking up at him. He was only about an inch or two taller than her, but just seemed so much larger than her. His confidence made him taller.

“I’ll take the lead,” he answered with a cocky smile. She made an exasperated expression before walking over to the door.

They both walked in together, Emily’s family looking up at the pair.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cobb,” Lassiter greeted, holding his hand out to shake, the father grabbed it first, giving a weak shake, the mother afterwards. “My name is Carlton Lassiter, this is my partner, Diana Brooks,” Lassiter motioned to Diana who was standing a step behind him.

Diana took a step forward and shook their hands, trying to greet them with a warm smile. 

“Nice to meet you, Detective Lassiter, Detective Brooks. I’m Thomas and this is my wife, Nancy. And this is our son, Nick,” Thomas introduced the family.

Both of the detectives sat down across the table.

“We called you back here today because we are reopening your daughter’s case,” Lassiter explained. Nancy’s expression lit up, hope filling her eyes.

“Are you really?” she asked, her voice cracking a bit.

“Yes, another victim has shown up in the last month that shows patterns very similar to what happened to your daughter. We brought you down here to ask you some more questions pertaining to your daughter, hopefully to make some more connections to both cases,” the blue eyed detective replied, taking a small notepad out of his suit pocket.

“Of course, anything you need, detectives,” Thomas answered, his hand grabbed his wife’s and squeezed it.

“In the days leading up to your daughter’s disappearance, had she been seeing any new friends or maybe a boyfriend? Anyone that she hadn’t been around in the past,” Lassiter asked, getting a pen out of the same pocket.

Diana watched as Thomas and Nancy looked at each other, both confused and very obviously trying to think. Both of their brows furrowed as they thought, seeming to have a silence conversation between them. 

“Not that we can think of, no. She always hung around the same group of friends. She never complained about any of them. Emily also never had a boyfriend or was ever with boys,” Nancy answered, looking back at the pair.

“Was your daughter at school when she went missing?” Diana asked, looking across the table at the family.

“Yes, she was attending Santa Barbara City college. Even though we live here, she insisted on living in a dorm. She said it was about the experience. It was the middle of the semester. I had talked to her on the phone just the night before she went missing.” Nancy explained, her voice laced with sadness. Talking about it was obviously reopening a painful wound.

“And she didn’t mention anything about plans or friends she was going to be around?” Lassiter asked, he was scribbling down notes in his pad.

“No, she just said she was studying for exams,” Nancy replied.

“Well,” Nick spoke up, both of the detectives looked over at the young boy. He looked nervous, as if he had a secret that he wasn’t supposed to share.

“Well, what, Nick?” Thomas asked, leaning over to look at his son.

“A few days before she went missing, she said something about a party to me. She was really excited to be going to her first big college party. Emily said something about a friend named Scott taking her there. The night she was going to the party was the night she went missing,” Nick said quietly. 

The detectives were listening closely to every word he said, not missing a detail.

“Did she ever tell you about him or show you a picture or anything?” Diana questioned, leaning closer to the table.

“No, she said that she had just started talking to him in the last few weeks. Emily met him in a class that they had together. I don’t remember which class she said.” he said, looking over at his parents who were staring at him angrily.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner, Nick?” Nancy asked, glaring at him.

“I didn’t think it mattered, I don’t know! I didn’t really think about it until now!” he replied, his voice raising, getting defensive.

“What matters is we know now,” Diana interrupted, trying to diffuse the situation. “Thank you for answering our questions, this was extremely helpful,” the young detective reached across the table and grabbed Nancy’s hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. “We will do everything in our power to find out what happened to your daughter. Put your mind at rest,” Diana offered her a small smile. 

Nancy stared at her and then smiled sadly at her, muttering a thank you. Lassiter stood up from the table and shook their hands again, Diana doing the same.

“Thank you again for coming to the station, you will be hearing from us,” Lassiter said, tucking his notepad back into his jacket.

The pair of detectives then left the room, walking into the room where they could see inside the interrogation room.

“Scott, huh?” Diana asked, looking at Lassiter who was still looking into the room. The family was gathering their belongings, getting ready to leave.

“We’ll have to talk to Maddison Harris’ parents, see if anything they have to say lines up with Emily Cobb’s story. But I do want to look into this Scott guy. We’ll have to take a trip to Santa Barbara City College,” he finally looked over at her.

Their eyes met and she stared into his baby blues. He had a determined look on his face. She saw this look when they had new leads. It was a specific type of confidence and determination. Diana smiled at him and laughed.

“I know that look,” she said with a giggle.

“What look?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowing. 

“You always get that look when your mind is reeling, putting the pieces together. It’s the ‘I’m a very good detective’ look,” Diana laughed.

Lassiter stood there for a moment, then crossed his arms over his chest, leaning his shoulder against the window that looked into the room.

“So you think I’m a good detective?” he asked with a playful smirk.

“Oh, I know you’re a good detective,” she answered with her own playful look, “I mean, if you weren’t a good detective, how else would you have made the connection of Emily Cobb and Maddison Harris. Oh, wait! That was me! I guess I’m the good detective here,” she poked at him and started to walk out of the room.

“Oh come on Brooks, anyone could have made that connection!” he snipped at her, she didn’t meet his eyes, she just continued to walk out of the room.

“Then how come you didn’t?” she said in a sing-songy voice and left the room, a smile stretched across her face.

Diana heard Lassiter sputter an insult before following after her.

“Come on, detective! Or do I need to leave tracks for you to follow?” she asked snarkily and practically heard the vein pop in his forehead.

“Oh, come on, Brooks,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made this chapter longer than usual. I wanted to make up for not updating very quickly.


End file.
